ROCK HILL, S.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — South Carolina’s mysterious $1.8 billion in a bank account doesn’t exist. That’s the answer to the nearly year-long questions of “Where did this money come from” and “Who does it belong to?”
State Treasurer Curtis Loftis says he’s accounted for every single cent.
“Not one penny is missing,” he told reporters Thursday. “I get a report every morning at 9 o’clock that tells me where every dime we have is either in the bank or invested.”
But in April, Loftis told Senate Finance Subcommittee members he invested the money in the mystery account and made nearly $200 million in interest for the state.
An audit released Wednesday found the $1.8 billion was an accounting error made about a decade ago, when the state converted from an old accounting system to a new one.
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The report says about $1.6 billion never existed, while the remaining $200 million had been real at one point, yet it was eventually spent by lawmakers and never removed from the books.
“It will throw off your financials,” 30-year accountant Mary Ann Castro said.
However, some professional accountants are still skeptical. Castro says an error of this size could have a significant ripple effect.
“As a resident and as an accountant, I would say dig deeper the same,” Castro said. “If something’s wrong in any books, dig deeper.”
Fellow accountant Jay Brightman agrees. He says people should start asking questions when the numbers don’t add up.
“You want to further investigate and ask questions and understand. Even though something has been occurring consistently for a period of years and people just continue to say ‘okay, that’s fine, because it’s been happening for the last ten years.’ well, sometimes you want to verify and validate that and do independent checks of data that’s coming in,” Brightman said.
Some state lawmakers are calling for Loftis’ resignation saying he is not fit for the position.
