There appears to have been no accountability for ticket sales for several Ogdensburg Student Council events held in 2006. And thousands of dollars from one event is unaccounted for.
That's according to a heavily censored audit released by the school district on Tuesday.
The 100-page report includes 45 pages of school policy as “exhibits”, and another 37 pages blank or completely blacked out. The remaining pages are heavily redacted and cover several events held at the Golden Dome over the time span covered by the audit.
The audit was ordered by the school after questions surrounding the finances of two World Wrestling Entertainment events held in 2006.
Already State Police have charged the Golden Dome manager Kris Ericksen with forgery and the state comptroller has ordered a special audit.
WWE said they received nearly $15,000 less than they should have from the July 2006 performance at the Dome. Ericksen allegedly forged an $8,000 receipt, making it appear the WWE had been paid for the event, when in fact no such receipt had been issued by the WWE. Investigators say about half the $8,000 is missing.
Of the few unredacted parts of the audit are accountings of ticket sales for the two WWE events held at the Dome.
The audit seems to show over $6,000 in ticket sales unaccounted for the show held on June 19th of last year.
As of the date the audit was conducted, WWE had not been paid nearly $50,000 due for the event. Also, $4,339 in NYS Sales Tax had not been paid, the audit says.
The audit says that for the June 19 event, $59,490 from ticket sales was deposited. However, it's calculated that there was $65,570 in ticket sales.
Overall, the June 19 event had a more than $15,000 "Event loss/discrepancy," the report says.
For several other Student Council events it appears that the number of tickets sold could not be accounted for:
- Ultimate Submission Wrestling - March 12: General admission tickets sold for $5.00. However, an individual whose identity is blacked out said he has no record or recollection of how many tickets were produced. Total revenue was listed as $115 vs. expenses of $158 for a $41 loss.
- Harlem Wizards, April 5: No revenues are recorded for this event against the $3,800 in expenses. Though mostly blacked out, this portion indicates the auditors unsuccessful in verifying attendance. However an individual whose name is censored said he felt it was standing room only.
- Club Hockey Game - Oswego State vs. Clarkson, February 24: Although the event was scheduled as a fundraiser, $0.00 was listed as revenue. Two refs were paid $170 for an event loss of $170.
- WWE event, January 9: Total revenue listed as $63,000 against expenses of $52,000 for an $11,672 profit.
The portions of the audit made public do not mention anyone's name.
