(The Center Square) – The machine shop manager for the University of Iowa’s Department of Physics and Astronomy allegedly diverted $943,634.97 to his own business, according to a report released Wednesday by State Auditor Rob Sand.
The report said Brian Busch deposited the money into his personal bank account and his Stripe accounts for work his company, D3Signtech, did for an outside company called Xometry.
Busch failed to disclose that he owned D3Signtech in violation of the university’s policy on conflicts of interest and commitment and that he used university staff and equipment to do the work, according to the audit.
“When university officials learned of a potential violation in the Department of Physics and Astronomy Machine Shop, they took immediate action to protect the interests of taxpayers, students, and families. The university began an internal audit to review processes and procedures and requested a state audit to better assess the role of the individuals involved,” the university said in a statement.
Sand said they also identified $6,313.39 in improper purchases Busch allegedly made using a university-issued card.
The report has been sent to the University of Iowa’s Department of Public Safety, the Division of Criminal Investigation, the Johnson County Attorney’s Office, and the Attorney General’s Office.
The report recommended the university improve its disclosure requirements and implement procedures to strengthen internal controls, including performing an independent review of adjustments and deletions made to its RT system and maintaining an inventory of tools and other purchases by the department.
“Following the completion of the internal audit, the Machine Shop updated its job intake and tracking procedures, recording jobs as they are assigned, in-progress, completed, or deleted,” the university said. “This ensures that work performed in the Machine Shop is properly documented and included in monthly shop accounting. The university continues to review the state audit and will adopt any recommendations not previously addressed in the internal audit.”
The university is in the process of trying to recoup the wages paid to Busch and the two other men while they were on extended periods of paid administrative leave. Busch was on paid leave from September 2021 until he was fired last month. Crile was also put on paid administrative leave in September 2021 and remained that way until he left the university in July 2023. Kuhl was on leave from July 2023 until his termination in August 2024, according to the university.
“The university also will review its conflict of interest and employment leave of absence practices to determine if new rules or procedures are necessary to mitigate prolonged administrative leaves and protect university resources,” the university said.
