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Ex-official sentenced for UCLA theft

By Daily Bruin Staff

Jan. 26, 1997 9:00 p.m.

Monday, January 27, 1997

FRAUD:

Campbell fined

$300,000, receives 33 months in jail for crimeBy John
Digrado

Daily Bruin Senior Staff

Ending an intensive two-year investigation and internal audit,
the former head of UCLA’s Radiological Services Department was
sentenced to 33 months in federal prison and fined over $300,000
after being found guilty of fraud, conspiracy and theft of
funds.

James Campbell, 46, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Stephen
V. Wilson on Thursday as a result of involvement in the conspiracy.
Campbell had plead guilty to 59 counts at an indictment last
September before a federal grand jury.

Between 1990 and 1994, Campbell and three other individuals
defrauded the university out of more than $500,000, according to
Assistant U.S. Attorney Nathan J. Hochman.

In addition to the fraud, Campbell was also found guilty of
conspiracy and charges related to the filing of a false 1992 tax
return.

According to court reports, Campbell had set up two separate
employee registries, which allegedly provided "temporary" help to
both UCLA and the Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center. While
Campbell had the authority to set up such registries, he had failed
to notify the university of the two accounts.

Campbell was under a federal contract while supplying the VA
Center with employees, thus defrauding the federal government and
launching a federal investigation.

According to court reports, Campbell had instructed a
co-conspirator to submit invoices to UCLA based on work allegedly
performed by employees on the separate registries.

The invoices were submitted directly to Campbell, which were
then approved and sent to former Radiology Department Chief
Financial Officer Benny Chow, who approved them a second time.

In exchange for Chow’s rubber stamp approval, monthly checks of
approximately $500 were sent to the former CFO over the four years
of the fraud.

Campbell was fired from UCLA in 1994 on charges of hiding his
connection with the two agencies from the university, overbilling
and rubber stamping false invoices.

One such invoice requested approximately $296,000 from the
university as payment for medical services performed by a man who
had no connection with the university or the department at the
time.

The request was submitted in the name of a construction worker
involved with a 2,000-square-foot remodel and add-on to Campbell’s
Lakewood home, Hochman said.

After receiving funds from the university, others involved in
the conspiracy mailed checks to other employees who had allegedly
performed work for the Radiology Department.

However, the fraudulent agency often only paid a small
percentage of the amount requested to the fraudulent employees. Of
the approximate $296,000 that the university paid to the
construction worker, only about $79,000 actually reached the worker
­ leaving about $217,000 unaccounted for.

Chancellor Charles E. Young said that the university cooperated
fully with federal officials from the Internal Revenue Service’s
Criminal Investigation Division, the Office of Inspector General
and the FBI in the investigation.

"While we are deeply distressed by the actions of this former
UCLA employee, we are gratified that our internal audit process
detected the wrongdoing and that this individual has been brought
to justice," Young said in a statement.

Three other co-conspirators await sentencing. Those individuals
include Chow, Stephen Walta of Norwalk, and James Campbell’s
brother, Bruce Campbell.

The additional three suspects also plead guilty for their role
in the conspiracy at the September indictment.

With reports from Daily Bruin Staff and wire services.

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