South Carolina Senate Votes to Oust State Treasurer Over $1.8 Billion Error

If approved by the House, the politicianโ€™s removal would mark the first in state history.

Members of the South Carolina Senate voted on April 21 to remove the stateโ€™s embattled treasurer for โ€œwillful neglectโ€ of his duties, sending the matter to the state House for consideration.

The 33โ€“8 vote followed an hours-long hearing of the full Senate, during which state Sens. Larry Grooms and Stephen Goldfinch, both Republicans, pushed for state Treasurer Curtis Loftisโ€™s removal over a $1.8 billion accounting error.

โ€œThe big secret of Treasurer Loftis, the one that heโ€™s kept hidden away, is that there are hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars in errors in the Treasury books today, and he doesnโ€™t know how to fix them,โ€ Grooms said in opening the hearing.

A state Senate Finance subcommittee report released last month said Loftis, a Republican, โ€œfailed to maintain the integrityโ€ of South Carolinaโ€™s banking and investment records after state officials were alerted to an unexplained $1.8 billion in funds under his officeโ€™s exclusive control.

An outside forensic audit determined that most of the funds in question were not real cash but the result of bookkeeping errors that followed the stateโ€™s transition to a new accounting system in the 2010s.

Loftis, now in his fourth term, was first elected treasurer in 2010 and has held the office since.

While two other public officials have resigned in connection with the stateโ€™s accounting issues, Loftis, Grooms said, โ€œremains defiant and refuses to take responsibility for his failures.โ€

Loftis, defending his record, likened himself to President Donald Trump, who vociferously denounced various investigations related to his affairs.

โ€œIโ€™m inspired by President Trump, and I, too, will not back down,โ€ Loftis said.

During prior Senate testimony, the treasurer indicated that the inexplicable funds not only existed but had been invested and were generating returns. After the audit, however, he claimed the report โ€œvalidated what weโ€™ve known all along,โ€ a statement that Goldfinch derided as โ€œa lie.โ€

The senator accused Loftis of attempting to cover up a serious error that he knew would damage his reputation.

Loftisโ€™s attorneys downplayed the discrepancy as โ€œan on-paper accounting errorโ€ and โ€œan honest mistake.โ€

By Samantha Flom

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