A state audit has revealed that a University of Iowa professor deposited nearly $1 million into his own account rather than the university’s.
The audit says that Brian Busch, the former manager of the Department of Physics and Astronomy machine shop, used the shop for his personal business, something he did not disclose to the university.
The audit alleges Busch deposited nearly $950,000 into his own accounts and not the university’s account from jobs he did using the equipment.
It also states he racked up over $6,000 in personal expenses on his university-issued card.
State Auditor Rob Sand says releasing the report was important to ensure justice is served.
“It’s a 300-page report, so this one took a little bit longer than usual to put together,” Sand said. “I will also add to that we had been working on the timeline with federal prosecutors and that’s often slower because they have a longer statute of limitations that they have to work with. But we reached a point where we felt we needed to simply release this report to make sure there was some legal action taken at some level, whether state or federal.”
According to the document, Busch was placed on paid administrative leave on Sept. 17, 2021. He was fired Aug. 28 of this year.
And in 2021, officials executed a search warrant for a room in Van Allen Hall. They recovered devices including an iPhone, an iPad and multiple digital-storage devices, according to the search warrant filed in Johnson County court documents.