Thursday, December 29, 2011 — Fred L. Randall Jr., 59, of Warwick, RI, a former URI employee at the Enrollment Services Office at the URI Providence Campus, was arrested by the Rhode Island State Police Financial Crimes Unit on Wednesday, December 28 for Larceny over $500 and Access to a Computer for Fraudulent Purposes. The arrest was the result of a six-month investigation by the State Police Financial Crimes Unit with the assistance of the University of Rhode Island Division of Administration and Finance.

The Financial Crimes Unit was originally contacted by the URI Division of Administration and Finance in June 2011 as the result of discrepancies in deposits from the URI Providence campus uncovered by the URI financial staff in Kingston. Randall was the person who was responsible for collecting all cash and check payments at the Providence campus and preparing the bank deposits.

Subsequent investigation revealed that more than $475,000 in cash over a six-year period that was received by Randall was not deposited into the URI bank account. Randall lapped checks and made false entries into the URI recordkeeping system to attempt cover up his theft.

Randall was arraigned in 6th Division District Court, Providence, and bail was set at $40,000 with surety bail. He was required to sign a waiver of extradition, surrender his passport and ordered not to visit any gambling venues.

No students were compromised with regard to their payments or access to education as a result of the alleged fraud and no state monies were involved. As soon as URI discovered the irregularities, an internal auditor from Kingston was immediately assigned to supervise the Providence campus enrollment services operation. In addition, the University has also taken a series of steps at the Providence Campus to help prevent such fraudulent activity in the future.

Randall was first employed at URI in September 1978 as a fiscal clerk. He became a senior teller at the Providence Campus in October 1997. He retired on March 11, 2011.