By Emma Sandri
The Ryerson Students’ Union (RSU) has filed a report with the Toronto Police Service (TPS), following allegations of financial mismanagement last year.
In January 2019, The Eyeopener obtained photos of financial statements showing food, clothing, alcohol and club purchases—some upwards of $2,000—with a credit card under the former RSU president’s name.
The purchases that were made allegedly amount to $250,000, said then-student groups director Maklane deWever.
The RSU later hired PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) to conduct a forensic audit to investigate allegations of “internal financial mismanagement,” according to a statement posted to Facebook.
With the audit complete, the RSU said they filed a police report on Monday, which was confirmed by the Toronto Police Service in an emailed statement to The Eye.
“Our role at this point is the report taker,” police constable Victor Paul Kwong wrote in the email.
Kwong also said that the report will be assigned to an investigator “to determine where it goes from there.”
“We look forward to the Toronto Police Service becoming an important partner in our organization’s effort toward delivering justice to the students we represent,” wrote the RSU.
The forensic audit and a report on the audit will be presented at the RSU’s upcoming Semi Annual General Meeting on Feb. 3.
More to come.
Gary Smith
The apparent lack of oversight and basic financial safeguard at student associations and unions is appalling. This is an area which needs attention from right-touch legislation and management- possibly at a provincial/federal level, to prevent abuse.
This incident isn’t the first and definitely will not be the last.
I encourage you to Google Kwantlen Student Association and The Runner (Student newspaper) and Justine Franson/Aaron Takhar. Similar issues being reported on at Ryerson were experienced around 2010 at Kwantlen (in BC).
I speak as a former Kwantlen student and UBC graduate who has paid a lot of student union/association dues.