Former Cal State dean now under criminal investigation for lavish spending on travel

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https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-05-09/former-cal-state-san-marcos-dean-now-under-criminal-investigation-university-says

Michael Schroder, the former dean of extended studies at Cal State San Marcos who racked up tens of thousands of dollars in improper travel billings, is now under criminal investigation by the San Diego County district attorney’s office, university officials said. Schroder, who left the campus after the San Diego Union-Tribune disclosed his lavish spending practices in 2019, also is being asked to make restitution for expenses that did not meet university standards, a Cal State San Marcos spokeswoman confirmed.

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The findings, released in February 2020, showed the dean racked up more than $41,000 in unallowable expenses. He also filed dozens of fraudulent claims, submitted duplicate expense reports and collected improper reimbursements, the review showed.

On one day, for example, Schroder attended an NFL game and a Guns N’ Roses concert, billing both events to the university as college business, the audit said.


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The former dean was one of several Cal State San Marcos administrators who, combined, spent more than $300,000 traveling on university business between 2017 and 2019, the Union-Tribune reported in October 2019.

Documents obtained by the newspaper showed that Schroder, former president Karen Haynes and other university officials stayed at resorts that cost $600 and $700 per night, routinely hired private drivers and billed the school for fine dining and alcohol.

Schroder charged the university for first-class airfare and stays at the Ritz-Carlton, among other luxury hotels.

He also booked stays at resorts that were miles away from destinations he cited as the purpose for his university travel, the Union-Tribune reported. He was particularly fond of the $130 chilled seafood platter at Vigilucci’s in Encinitas, where he dined multiple times, records show.


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During a business trip to Washington, D.C., in May, Schroder spent $948 for dinner at Mastro’s Steakhouse. The order included five filets costing up to $110 each, two servings of lobster mashed potatoes at $38 a pop, a $14 plate of sweet potato fries and other high-end treats.

When Schroder sought reimbursement for the meal, he included handwritten notes listing the other 12 people he said attended the dinner. The restaurant receipt shows there were five guests, which correlates with the five entrees ordered.

The San Diego Union-Tribune reached out to all the guests listed on the expense report in an effort to understand why the restaurant receipt listed five people, while the expense report listed 13 attendees.

Only one, Professor Henning Kehr of The University of Applied Sciences Worms in Germany, responded. Kehr said there were numerous tables at the dinner, and approximately eight people at his table alone.

Attendees ate a host of gourmet appetizers, including sauteed asparagus, crab-stuffed mushrooms, creamed spinach and Blue Point oysters on the half shell, according to the receipt Shroder included in his expense report. They drank $9 bottles of San Pellegrino and topped off dinner with crème brûlée, key lime pie and chocolate sin cake, at $11 each. Including tax, the bill came to $798.

https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/watchdog/story/2019-09-04/chauffeurs-first-class-air-and-a-110-steak-all-in-a-days-work-for-cal-state-san-marcos-dean