The director of fraternity and sorority life has been placed on paid administrative leave for allegedly embezzling almost $68,000 from his last job.
Ben Williams was suspended March 5 when Bradley found out about the three felony charges from the University of Mississippi.
Williams worked for Ole Miss from August 2007 to December 2008 as an assistant to the dean of student organizations.
Ole Miss discovered the alleged embezzlement when doing internal audits.
“We found some discrepancies a few months after Mr. Williams left,” said Lee Tyner, an attorney for the University of Mississippi. “The internal audit and the dean of students’ office conducted an internal investigation. When they finished what they were looking at they turned it over to the district attorney.”
They found three accounts of alleged embezzlement that Williams allegedly fraudulently concealed for his own use, according to the indictment. The first account was for $1,940.39, the second for $61,267.90 and the third for $4,692.28.
Williams is awaiting his April 5 court date.
In his absence, Director of Residential Life and Leadership Nathan Thomas and graduate assistant Katie McGinn have been covering Williams’ duties at BU.
President of Interfraternity Council Allen Goebl described Williams as an adviser to the greeks and IFC and Panhellenic Council’s connection to the university.
He also said the fraternities and sororities had a good relationship with Williams, and he would not have expected him to ever do anything like this.
Goebl said he doesn’t think Williams has embezzled any money from Bradley.
“Both the treasurers [of IFC and Panhel] have looked over the statements,” he said. “I think our financial system is set up a lot differently than Ole Miss.”
If found guilty, Williams will face a charge of up to 10 years and $25,000 for each account, totaling a possibility of up to 30 years and $75,000 in fines. The court could also order him to pay back what he took, Tyner said.
A grand jury indicted Williams last month and he appeared in-person at an arraignment on March 4, where his bond was set at $25,000.
Williams’ suspension from BU is indefinite, said Associate Vice President for Communications, Shelley Epstein.
