The FBI have launched a criminal investigation into claims that Jane Sanders defrauded a bank during her time as president to Burlington College.
Agents are conducting interviews in Florida after it emerged that millions of dollars of donations to the University went missing before it was declared bankrupt in 2016.
Washingtonexaminer.com reports:
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Burlington College ceased operations in May 2016 after failing to meet accreditation standards and falling into bankruptcy. Sanders served as president from 2004-2011, during which time the school took on $10 million in debt as part of a plan to expand the school.
In a 2010 loan application Sanders said that the college had $2.6 million in donations coming in to pay for purchased land, however only $676,00 in donations came through over the next four years, leading the college into bankruptcy in May 2016, according to the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Sanders has been accused of falsifying loan documents to expand the college grounds in May of 2015. The report says that donors who Sanders used to apply for loans are now in contact with the FBI and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
One such example the report cites is a 2010 loan application, in which Sanders documented that Corinne Bove Maietta, the daughter of the founders of Bove Restaurants in Burlington, had pledged a $1 million donation over half a decade. Maietta claims that she made no such pledge, rathering offering an unspecified bequest to be paid to the school upon her death, the report said.
Maietta’s accountant, Richard Moss confirmed to the Daily Caller News Foundation that the FBI has contacted him and is seeking an interview with Maietta.
“It was sometime back in March or April, during tax season,” Moss said. “It was in regards to Corine Maietta’s current address and where they could contact her for questions related to Burlington College.”
TheDCNF said it reached out to the Sen. Bernie Sanders but has not yet receive a reply. His representative, Jeff Weaver, said in a statement last week that the FBI hasn’t reached out to Jane Sanders yet.
