LITTLE ROCK — Former University of Arkansas at Little Rock College of Business Dean Anthony Chelte will not face criminal charges after an internal audit found he filed for and received more than $11,000 in expenses he was not entitled to, and failed to report leave amounting to about $16,000 in salary.
“After reviewing the information, we have determined that this matter may have been the result of a misunderstanding by Dr. Chelte of the University’s travel expense policy,” Pulaski County Prosecuting Attorney Larry Jegley wrote in a Wednesday letter to UALR counsel Jeffrey Bell.
“This office concludes that no criminal intent by Dr. Chelte can be proven.”
Chancellor Joel Anderson removed Chelte from the dean’s role in January as the audit was conducted. He declined to say why at the time, calling it “a personnel matter.”
Chelte, who resigned in April, had a salary of $188,850.
UALR has since sought and received restitution of $27,287.48 from the formerdean for the expenses, UALR spokesman Judy Williams said Friday.
The audit report said Chelte was improperly paid more than $16,000 for 182 hours of unreported leave that he took.
UALR submitted travel-related audit findings to Jegley for review in May, the attorney’s letter said. The internal audit found, among other things, that Chelte was getting reimbursements both from UALR and from organizations for which he “acted as a mentor or presenter.”
According to the audit, $8,762 of the $11,480.80 was money reimbursed to Chelte both by UALR and by other entities. The remaining $2,718.80 was for travel expenses that were unauthorized or not related to university business, the audit found. According to the internal audit, Chelte - who began working at UALR on July 1, 2009 - incurred $75,540.73 in travel expenses for 45 UALRfunded trips during his time as dean.
Chelte could not be reached for comment Friday. He does not have a listed telephone number.
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 19 on 09/16/2012