In response to a lawsuit alleging he mishandled millions of UW-Oshkosh funds, former Vice Chancellor of Administrative Services Tom Sonnleitner said he acted with consent from the UW System Board of Regents.
Sonnleitner’s legal team filed briefs Monday that claim UW System officials knew of his actions. His team called for the case to be dismissed and seek damages to cover his legal fees.
The briefs state that he informed the regents of the constructions projects in question, once in 2010 and again in 2013. During the 2013 meeting, the UW-Oshkosh foundation president offered more details, but the regents declined due to time constraints.
Additionally, the documents alleged that Debbie Duncan, the UW System vice president for finance at the time, sat on the foundation’s board as an ex-officio member and was aware of how the foundation was financing its projects.
The UW System and Wisconsin Department of Justice filed a lawsuit mid-January alleging that top officials, including Sonnleitner and former Chancellor Richard Wells, illegally transferred $11.3 million from the university to its private foundation and promised to back loans for five foundation building projects.
Following this, the UW-Oshkosh Foundation is considering filing for bankruptcy because they cannot pay back the $14.5 million owed on three of the projects.
Sonnleitner’s lawyers wrote, “Sonnleitner's actions were in the best interest of the university and did not cause any financial harm to the university or to the State of Wisconsin.”
