LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) - A former finance chief for the Nebraska State Fair collected nearly $150,000 in undocumented payments through a company he created last year, state auditors said Tuesday.
The review found two checks totaling $149,415.60 that were made out to RKBB Enterprises Inc., state auditors said in a letter to the fair's governing board.
RKBB Enterprises was created in May 2019 by Brandon Kopke, the fair's former chief of finance and administration. Kopke resigned in November after telling board members that the fair was headed for bankruptcy.
State auditors said they identified the questionable payments during a review of the fair's spending. According to the letter, auditors couldn't find any invoices for the payments or connect them to any services provided for the fair.
Mary Avery, the state's special audits and finance manager, said the account where the checks were deposited appears to have been used for personal expenses.
The State Fair board laid off eight employees last year after learning that the fair had lost a projected $1.4 million.