PEER Report #293

AN INVESTIGATION OF ALLEGED FRAUD BY PERSONNEL OF THE MISSISSIPPI AUTHORITY FOR EDUCATIONAL TELEVISION AND THE FOUNDATION FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING, March 9, 1993, 22 pages

In 1989, the Mississippi Authority for Educational Television (MAET) illegally issued a $10,000 check to a California technician.

• MAET certified a false invoice, representing it as a valid claim.
• MAET Executive Director A. J. Jaeger knew no services had been rendered at the time of payment and, along with MAET business staff, perpetrated a fraud.
• The California technician and his employer, the National Broadcasting Company (NBC), rendered no services, and after cashing the check intended to return the money.
• NBC repaid the $10,000 by check to the Foundation for Public Broadcasting, rather than MAET or the State Treasury. MAET personnel arranged the repayment to be deposited in the Foundation as a debt to the state, but then compounded the fraud by adjusting accounting records to reclassify the repayment from a debt to a donation to the Foundation.

Such conduct is illegal and is punishable under state and federal law through felony statutes proscribing embezzlement, fraud against the state, and interstate transportation of articles obtained by fraud. The Foundation repaid the $10,000 to the State Treasurer on March 4, 1993, because of PEER’s investigation.

A. J. Jaeger’s relationship with the Foundation for Public Broadcasting could be unethical, and could jeopardize the Foundation’s tax-exempt status.

For a paper copy of this report, contact PEER by telephone at 601-359-1226 or by e-mail at reports@peer.ms.gov.