S.C. treasurer may become casualty of $1.8B mystery
COLUMBIA, S.C. (WRDW/WAGT) - Gov. Henry McMaster is weighing in on a scathing report from lawmakers that claims South Carolina’s elected treasurer is at fault for a nearly $2 billion debacle.
The governor says he still has confidence in Treasurer Curtis Loftis’ ability to do his job.
For months, a Senate subcommittee has been investigating $1.8 billion in taxpayer money with no known owner that lawmakers didn’t know about until last fall.
In a report released Tuesday, the subcommittee blames Treasurer Curtis Loftis for this discrepancy, but at McMaster’s request stops short of calling for his removal from office.
If the governor hadn’t made that request, the report would have called for the removal of Loftis, said Sen. Larry Grooms, R-Berkeley, chairman of the .
McMaster said:
“The main thing is not to, at this point, is not to point blame or try to find error, but to find out the answers about the money: where is it, where was it supposed to go, did any of it get to where it was supposed to go, what was it supposed to be used for, and if it’s really there.”
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Last week, the governor formed a multiagency task force that includes both the treasurer and the comptroller general, whom the treasurer claims is responsible.
McMaster has charged them with getting answers by July 1.
“We have to get those answers,” McMaster said. “Otherwise, the public is going to lose complete faith in the system.”
The new Senate report details that days after a contentious hearing between Loftis and senators, the treasurer threatened to publish sensitive information on the state’s finances online – saying the governor, attorney general, and chief of the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division all had to interfere to stop this catastrophic action.
Loftis has claimed that’s not true – and McMaster says he still has confidence in the treasurer.
“I think as long as we all work together – communicate, collaborate, cooperate, and work for the people and quit fighting among ourselves – we’re going to be just fine,” McMaster said.
Loftis’ office said the treasurer warned senators about the dangers of posting the report and was talking to officials in the Department of istration who agreed it was dangerous to do so without heavy redactions.
The report included the general fund names, numbers and software type that would allow hackers to map their way into state s.
Until officials figure out where the money is supposed to go, South Carolina can’t spend the money. It may belong to the federal government or a trust , and thus can’t be used for things like roads or teacher raises. And the state may even have to pay interest on the funds.
The Senate also wants to spend $4 million on a forensic investigation of the Treasurer’s Office .
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