South Carolina has amassed over $1.8 billion in bank accounts during the last ten years, and they don’t know where it came from.
After discovering an error in higher education finances, the Republican comptroller general, who had been elected to the post, announced his resignation last year. This mistake only appeared on paper, yet it resulted in a $3.5 billion difference.
The problem started in the 2010s when the state switched to new computer systems.
While investigative accountants continue to investigate, state Senate leaders claim that money was moved from one account to another to keep things in balance whenever there were anomalies in the state’s financial records.
On Tuesday, Republican Governor Henry McMaster informed the public that no money had been misplaced.
The South Carolina Senate has appointed a group to look into the money. Leading the initiative is Republican state senator Larry Grooms, who compares it to a situation in which you visit your bank and the president tells you that there is a sizable sum of money in the vault, but they don’t know who the actual owners are.
Republican treasurer Curtis Loftis has not responded to inquiries about the money. He has only spoken about how he got the state around $200 million in interest. He says that Brian Gaines, the comptroller general, is to blame for the confusion about the cash’s final destination.
Loftis said earlier this month that Gaines is attempting to shift the blame on the Treasurer to avoid having to clean up its mess.
The Grooms’ panel has summoned Loftis and Gaines to testify. Grooms said that Loftis has not responded to any of the legislators’ inquiries about the probe, whereas Gaines has.
Governor McMaster has decided to postpone using the $1.8 billion until its intended use is verified.
