BURLINGTON — The Justice Department was investigating the activities of the now-defunct Burlington College as recently as February, according to emails obtained through a public records request. The emails show the U.S. attorney for Vermont and an FBI agent reviewed Burlington College records in the state’s possession earlier this year pursuant to an investigation. Both enforcement agencies declined to comment on the substance of that probe or whether it has been completed.
“It’s typical for us not to comment or to confirm whether or not there’s a current investigation. We would not comment on any active investigation,” said Kraig LaPorte, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office. An FBI spokeswoman cited a similar policy. The chair of the Burlington College board of trustees said Thursday that the FBI investigation has been going for more than a year, and at least one former school employee was subpoenaed as part of the probe.
In January 2016, after reporting by VTDigger showing former Burlington College President Jane Sanders overstated pledged donations in applying for a loan so the school could purchase its former North Avenue campus, Republican lawyer Brady Toensing made a formal request to the U.S. attorney for a fraud investigation.
The Vermont Agency of Education took possession of records left at the college in the wake of its sudden closure in May. When a college closes, state law requires the school or the state to keep academic records so students can obtain transcripts and graduate certificates.
Burlington College opted to let the state handle that process. Agency officials said they found the school’s records in disarray, in part because of an unsolved burglary. The state, as a result, took possession of nonacademic records as well as the student records it was required to take.
In November, Toensing requested an index of the records in the state’s possession. Education officials provided a list showing business records, board materials such as meeting minutes dating back to 1998, and records relating to the school’s accreditation. ---SNIP---long read
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Bernie's spouse, Jane Sanders, "overstated donation amounts in a bank application" for a $6.7 million loan. She told People’s United Bank in 2010 that the college had pledges to support the purchase even as she knew the sum of actual donations did not measure up.
People who pledged say their personal financial records show their pledges were overstated.... and they were not advised pledges were used to secure a bank loan.
Jane Sanders did not respond to a request for comment as to whether she was subpoenaed or otherwise contacted by the FBI or the US attorney. NOTE She left the job considerably richer----they gave her a golden parachute.