Former university official facing up to 20 years in prison

FLORIDA — A former university official has pleaded guilty to wire fraud, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida (USAO) has announced.

United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg said that Brian Carroll, 46, of Tennessee, has pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud. He faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison. A sentencing date has not yet been set.

According to the plea agreement, Carroll was the Executive Vice President of Southeastern University, a university based in Lakeland, Florida. His responsibilities as Executive Vice President of Southeastern University reportedly included being the chief operating officer of the university, with responsibility for strategy, financial operations, and legal affairs.

Carroll was involved in a scheme to enrich himself and to defraud the university of funds in 2016, the USAO said.

“The scheme involved Carroll’s creation of a New Mexico corporation, which he secretly controlled, and the establishment of a bank account in the name of that corporation. He also created an email address for the company, which he used to further the scheme,” the USAO said.

Around mid-2016, the leadership of Southeastern University was interested in rebranding the university and its web image. Carroll worked on the project, and the USAO said he secretly “engaged” his New Mexico corporation to perform that project work.

“Over a six-month period, Carroll’s corporation generated a contract to do the work and a number of invoices for payment by Southeastern University for work purportedly performed. The total payment to the New Mexico corporation, for which Carroll sought and received payment from the university, was in excess of $180,000,” the USAO said in its statement.

Carroll reportedly kept his involvement with the New Mexico corporation a secret from any members of Southeastern University.

“In reality, Carroll’s New Mexico corporation did none of the work on this project. Instead, it had engaged a New York-based corporation to do the work on the project at the reduced cost of approximately $30,000,” the USAO said.

During the course of the fraud scheme, Carroll, in his position at Southeastern University, approved a number of payments from university funds to his New Mexico corporation for its purported work on the project, the USAO said.

“Only after Southeastern University had spent over $180,000 on the project did it discover the involvement of Carroll in the New Mexico corporation and the real cost of the project. The Board of Directors suspended Carroll immediately and ultimately terminated his employment at the university soon thereafter in early 2017,” the USAO said.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with assistance from the Lakeland Police Department. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jay L. Hoffer.