SAN ANTONIO - So, who was responsible for handling the missing money from South San athletics?
I'm told by a district official it was Athletic Director Gary Durbon’s job to oversee all the money that comes into the sports department.
As I reported Monday, a confidential audit discovered $25,000 is missing or unaccounted for from South San football ticket sales which has triggered an investigation by the District Attorney.
Now here's the inside story.
I'm told handling money was Gary Durbon's responsibility and his secretary routinely made deposits and payments. But it's very unusual, if not unheard of, for an athletic director to have exclusive control over cash with no other oversight.
But at South San, the district’s own finance department did not handle a single penny of athletic funds or have access to those bank accounts. The new South San school board put a stop to this several weeks ago and now all athletic funds are handled by the finance department.
One source suggested to me this may be political payback for Gary Durbon, who has been a lightning rod for controversy and has had his own battles with the board. Someone involved in the audit insists this is not aimed at Durbon, but was requested to answer long standing questions about where all this athletic money was going.
A spokesperson for South San told me Durbon would not be allowed to comment on the situation.
But Gary called me and had this to say in his own defense, "I've never handled money. I don't count it. I don't deposit it. Nor have I ever been given a job description that says I am to oversee the money that comes into this department. So what you were told by the district is false."
Whether or not political infighting is the motivation here, it's hard to dispute the findings of an independent auditor.
The question now for the District Attorney to determine -- Was this criminal or just bad bookkeeping?
