A new audit suggests no wrongdoing by the chair of the Saint Augustine University Board of Trustees.

The information presented in it contradicts a 2023 audit that showed one of the board members was paid a finder’s fee when a loan was made to the university and that the university received that money from the lender as a gift.

The university’s board, which is fighting to keep the school’s accreditation, has hired an independent auditor to investigate claims that chair Brian Boulware received finder’s fees from lenders the university borrowed from.

The audit comes after WRAL reported earlier this month that the North Carolina Attorney General’s Office is looking into the allegations that Boulware received a finder’s fee for a $7 million loan. The allegations came in a lawsuit filed by Save SAU, a group of alumni and supporters of the university, and were reiterated in the requested 2023 audit.

A finder’s fee is defined as a reward given to one party by another party to close a commercial transaction. The latest forensic audit indicates that neither Boulware nor the university received a finder’s fee for securing a loan in 2023.

The latest audit contradicts financial audit documents from 2023 that indicate an unnamed board member was entitled to a $28,000 finder’s fee for the loan, and the money was given to the university by the lender labeled as a private gift.

However, the 2024 audit concluded that there was never a finder’s fee to begin with and that Boulware did not receive one.

“The only discussion after the transaction was completed was with a former University president who, in his words, for some reason, brought up the idea of ​​the bank paying such an amount to Brian Boulware,” according to the audit documents.

Audit documents say there are no accounting records to show the finder’s fee existed or was dispersed.

“The principal officer of OZK Bank, an executive vice president involved in the transaction, stated unequivocally that there was no such transaction planned, contemplated or otherwise, where the payment of a finder’s or broker’s fees to Brian Boulware or anyone else originating this transaction,” according to the forensic audit.

WRAL Investigates spoke with Ted Edwards, an attorney for Saint Augustine University. Edwards said he couldn’t talk much about the audit’s findings, but that the university wants to be as transparent as possible.

“The university wants to do everything it can to instill public confidence and, at the very least, get the true facts out in a public arena so that people understand that the university is moving in a positive direction,” Ted Edwards said. “I am not aware of any wrongdoing on the part of the board members. I believe the board members have acted in good faith and are working to move the university forward.”

WRAL Investigates asked Edwards about the discrepancy. He replied: “All I can say is that the university hired an independent auditor who conducted a forensic investigation that found there was no finder’s fee of any amount.”

WRAL Investigates asked the auditors the same question in an email, but did not receive a response.

Edwards said he was not aware of any wrongdoing by council members.

“The university wants to do everything it can to instill public confidence and, at the very least, get the true facts out in a public arena so that people understand that the university is moving in a positive direction,” Edwards said.

WRAL News has been covering the University of St. Augustine wrestling since 2023when several staff members were fired and at the beginning of 2024, when employees’ salaries were missed, when the university began to fight for accreditation.

In July, the arbitration committee appointed by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges reversed the February decision to withdraw Saint Augustine from membership. The university is still on probation.

WRAL News expects a decision on the school’s accreditation in just a few weeks. The latest audit, which denies wrongdoing, could be a way to show that the university is making progress in this regard.