Nebraska auditor calls nonprofit “fiscal train wreck” in latest report

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) — Nebraska Auditor Mike Foley on Tuesday released a startling report on a Nebraska nonprofit.

The Karen Society has been operating for 15 years and has offices in Lincoln, Omaha and Madison, Nebraska.

Named for the Karen people — a large ethnic group in southeast Asia — the society helps refugees and immigrants from Burma build and sustain a high quality of life in Nebraska.

According to Foley’s report, over 99% of the government grant funding channeled to the society was spent improperly.

“Our audit work revealed what gives every indication of being a deliberate and ongoing pattern of monetary mismanagement and abuse that demands the immediate attention of law enforcement,” Foley said in a press release.

Much of that alleged fiscal abuse resulted from the society charging its operating expenses improperly to multiple grant awards — a practice prohibited by governing federal regulations.

Foley also noted the use of government funds in ways that “defy common sense.”

“Who’s bright idea was it to use public monies to translate brochures for Burmese refugees living in Nebraska on how to prepare for a hurricane or tropical storm?” He added, “I hadn’t noticed the weather patterns in Nebraska changing all that much. This is pure idiocy.”

Foley said sloppy accounting practices and poor record keeping are the norm at The Karen Society.

Financed primarily by donations, federal, state, and local government funding — as well as money from Duke University — the society is a “fiscal train wreck and disgrace in terms of financial accountability,” Foley said.

Foley concluded, “What has happened here is an affront to taxpayers. It must be stopped and never repeated.”

You can read the synopsis of the report here.