January 13, 2009 News

Negligence pushes CSU deficit over $500,000

Former employee spent union into the red during 2005, 2006, 2007

by Terrine Friday

The CSU remains adamant about not letting the cat out of the bag.
GRAPHIC Ginger Coons

“These kids don’t know what the hell they’re doing.” —former CSU executive

Keyana Kashfi says she’s concerned about rumours surrounding the Concordia Student Union’s finances and how undergraduate students may interpret them.

Kashfi, president of the CSU, wants to put allegations and questions regarding the finances of the CSU to rest by opening up to the student press.

This comes in light of various accusations made against the student union, which include everything from embezzlement to non-disclosure.

“It’s my job to look out for the interests of the student union,” Kashfi said in an interview with The Link. “Wrong information is damaging to the CSU.”

Amidst confusion and the buzz of questionable finances, the CSU has decided to open up—but without disclosing too many details.

Cat out of the bag

On Nov. 25, 2008, The Link reported of questionable finances on the part of the CSU based on information obtained from confidential sources.

According to both CSU councillors and the CSU executive, the closed session that wrapped up the Nov. 12 Council meeting had an item that was not on the agenda.

The last item on the agenda read “Budget,” but only part of the discussion surrounded the budget. The rest was about previous mismanagement of funds by persons no longer associated with the CSU. All councillors signed a legal confidentiality agreement before details of the financial irregularity were disclosed.

“That’s why things were discussed in closed session,” said Elie Chivi, VP communications for the CSU. “This isn’t a very cut and dry situation and we’re still trying to figure out what happened.”

Half a million gone

According to the CSU, negligence on the part of a former employee, as well as former executives of the union, caused the CSU to incur a combined deficit of nearly $500,000 for the fiscal years ending May 31, 2006 and May 31, 2007.

The CSU must pay back-taxes for the affected fiscal years—which was realized when a former executive couldn’t withdraw money “because our bank accounts were seized,” said Kashfi.

VP Finance of the CSU, Andre Leroy, said that the deficit figure is probably inflated because an investigation is still ongoing.

“These numbers are not close to where we are by far,” Leroy said.

The current numbers provided by the CSU are those available to all undergraduate students and not those written in the financial investigation report launched by former VP finance Fauve Castagna in June of 2007, which the CSU has refused to disclose.

A non-bargain

In addition to the deficit incurred for the 2005-2007 academic years, the alleged culprit may be held accountable for other damages.

In light of the allegations, the CSU approached The Link to disclose more confidential information to its readership—but only on the condition that The Link sign an agreement that would have compromised The Link’s editorial control, which according to The Link and its legal counsel, was not in the best interest of the paper and its readership.

When The Link refused to sign the agreement, the CSU contacted The Gazette, confirmed Kashfi.

Speaking Out

Former student union executives have spoken out about the financial disarray.

A former CSU executive, who wishes to not be named, is concerned for the current executives.

“These kids don’t know what the hell they’re doing,” the former executive said. “This is very, very serious […] This is not something you play around with.”

This former executive said full disclosure is the best solution for the CSU and its membership: undergraduate students who pay fees to them.

But this former executive questions the role of the councillors.

“Fingers start pointing at councillors. Why didn’t they ask where the audits were? This is huge.”

Mohamed Shuriye, former CSU president for 2005-2006, confirmed he was contacted by The Gazette and is afraid his name will be tarnished due to the investigation.

According to Kashfi, Shuriye and the alleged culprit did not handle student money responsibly by keeping track of financial transactions.

“They didn’t know where they [stood], but they just kept spending,” Kashfi said, “so as long as their cheques cleared, they kept spending.”

But Shuriye said he could not have foreseen the mismanagement by an employee, especially since he wasn’t the one in charge of the books.

“For this current executive to say that we should have questioned the numbers from a chartered accountant is unreasonable,” Shuriye said. “I’m appalled that this executive has the tenacity to question my judgment especially since they’re being recalled.”

Both Shuriye and Kashfi concur that all notices sent by the federal and provincial government were addressed to the alleged culprit and not to any of the executives.

“I didn’t open the mail, it’s a federal offence,” Shuriye said, noting that a year after his mandate expired, “the [CSU executives] realized [the alleged culprit] didn’t even open the mail,” which detailed delinquency in tax payment.

Former CSU president and VP finance Patrice Blais doesn’t seem surprised by the news of questionable finances, but is disappointed with the ongoing investigation, which has already taken more than a year.

Blais was VP finance in 2001, shortly after Sheryll Navidad, former VP finance of the CSU, was accused of embezzling almost $200,000 in student money.

“A forensic accountant was hired and [the investigation into Navidad] didn’t take a year,” Blais said. “The numbers were never kept away from CSU members.”

Blais said he’s still waiting for the current deficit numbers to be made public and overall, wants a transparent student union.

“What I do know is there is a CSU executive […] who aren’t telling people what’s the real deal here.”

Tomorrow’s Another Day

Kashfi and the VP finance ensure that the current financial situation is under control and everything they know has been conveyed to The Link.

However updated figures were not disclosed, nor has an interview with the CSU’s former VP finance—who undertook the investigation during the 2007-2008 school year—been granted.

Kashfi says the alleged culprit still has not been charged with any offence and that the investigation is ongoing.

“The numbers are going to change, but the people involved will not,” Kashfi confirmed.

Kashfi summed up the financial disorder: “It’s a bigger thing than just money missing or that there’s a deficit.”