[Vision2020] Former UI Vice President (Jerry Wallace) Charged in University Place Case

[Tom Hansen]

>From today's (October 31, 2006) Moscow-Pullman Daily News

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Former UI vice president charged in University Place case 

By Alexis Bacharach, Daily News staff writer 
Tuesday, October 31, 2006 - Page Updated at 12:17:55 PM 


WallaceA former University of Idaho administrator has been charged with
misuse of public money for his role in the failed University Place project. 

Latah County Prosecutor William Thompson announced Tuesday that two counts
of misuse of public money have been filed against Jerry Wallace, former UI
vice president of finance and administration. 

The charges stem from the creation, use and audit characterizations of a UI
agency account, which was a funding source for the University Place project
in Boise from November 2000 through 2003, according to a news release from
the prosecutor's office. 

The University Place project began in 1999 with the purchase of a 2-acre
parcel of land in Boise. Plans called for a satellite campus with three
facilities combining education, retail and other public services.
Construction was supposed to be funded through state issued bonds, but the
legislation failed. 

In 2003, UI administrators informed the Idaho State Board of Education that
pre-design work for the project was financed through a series of
unauthorized loans totalling nearly $30 million between the UI and the UI
Foundation. Approximately $8 million of that debt was accrued through the
agency account that Wallace alledgedly set up in 2000. 

"Agency accounts, by definition, are supposed to work like debit accounts,"
Thompson said. "The agency account set up for University Place never had a
positive balance of foundation money in it. Instead, it was used as a credit
account." 

Wallace is scheduled to make his first appearance in Latah County District
Court on Nov. 13. 

The criminal complaint against Wallace was originally filed under seal in
June and unsealed on Tuesday. 

"We wanted to make sure we weren't going to run into problems with statute
of limitations," Thompson said of the decision to file the complaint under
seal. "At that point, we still had a number of interviews to conduct." 

The state criminal investigation into University Place was originally led by
the Ada County prosecutor's office, but a conflict of interest resulted in
the case's reassignment to Thompson. In addition to the state's case, an
investigation into possible federal crimes is being led by Assistant U.S.
Attorney Allen Garten. 

"We have worked closely with the federal investigators to ensure we weren't
being repetitive in our efforts," Thompson said. "They shared the results of
their inquiries with us, which helped us come to this conclusion. The
federal investigators will likely wait for the resolution of the state case,
before they decide how to proceed." 

While the state investigation will remain open, Thompson said there is no
evidence to suggest that anyone else involved in University Place broke the
law. 

Wallace was one of several UI administrators, including former UI President
Bob Hoover, who resigned in the wake of the real estate project's
derailment. 

"From the state and federal investigations, there is no evidence that anyone
at the university or with the foundation acted in a malicious way," Thompson
said. "There is nothing to suggest that people were acting contrary to what
they believed was in the UI's best interest." 

According to Idaho law, the misuse of public monies carries a maximum
sentence of 10 years. 

"This has been a very time consuming, labor intensive investigation,"
Thompson said. "If you look at the entire University Place project there is
an enormous amount of evidence and documentation. The scope of our criminal
case, however is very narrow."

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Suddenly the sunn feels just a little warmer around campus.

Seeya round town, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

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"It doesn't require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless
minority keen to set brushfires in people's minds"

- Samuel Johnson  [1709-84]

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