Former FSU employee charged in defrauding university over $1.2 million

https://www.wctv.tv/2020/06/30/former-fsu-employee-charged-in-defrauding-university-over-12-million/

The Florida State University Police Department has issued warrants for former faculty member Mark A. Rodin following a university-initiated investigation that led to charges of defrauding the university of approximately $1.2 million.

FSU says Rodin, who taught digital media production courses in the College of Communication and Information and long-time director of Seminole Productions, has been charged with one felony count of organized scheme to defraud and 24 counts of grand theft.

The university says Rodin turned himself into the Leon County Detention Facility.

FSU says a discovery by university accountants sparked multiple investigations that found Rodin misdirected funds from IMG, the sports marketing firm that serves FSU’s athletics department, and deposited those funds directly into a private bank account controlled by Rodin.

“Since this wasn’t an FSU contract, we did not know about the improper financial arrangement,” said Vice President for Finance and Administration Kyle Clark. “Mr. Rodin arranged a production deal with IMG directly. The work was carried out on university time with university facilities and materials, but the funds illegally went directly to him, which, in addition to being illegal is also a violation of university policy.

Clark says the investigation is ongoing, but believes the incident is an isolated one.

Rodin was placed on administrative leave in July of 2019 after administrators were alerted to a problem with Seminole Production accounting letters. He resigned on September 11, 2019.