Krebs calls TV report misleading
Ex-AD, President Abdallah respond to use of UNM funds
A television report suggesting former University of New Mexico athletic director Paul Krebs used public money for personal trips to the Final Four over the past three years and “diverted” thousands of dollars earmarked for student-athletes for “personal use” largely misrepresented the facts of the matter, the now-retired AD and the school’s interim president said Wednesday.
Krebs retired in June as UNM’s athletic director amid two ongoing state investigations into financial management in the department he oversaw for 11 years.
KRQE-TV on Tuesday night aired reporter Larry Barker’s latest investigation into Krebs’ past use of funds. This one points primarily to his travel to the past four NCAA men’s basketball Final Four events and to the fact that Krebs’ wife, also a UNM employee, accompanied him.
Barker stated, “Public money earmarked for student-athlete programs has been quietly
diverted for personal use and yet, nobody noticed — not the administration and not the auditors. … The expenditures were not related to his job duties or responsibilities.”
Interim UNM President Chaouki Abdallah said Krebs attending the Final Four is not an uncommon practice for UNM or any other university.
“There are returns to the athletic department and the university that are reflected in benefits such as opportunities to raise private funds to benefit studentathletes and support improved and new facilities,” Abdallah told the Journal. “Involvement in national committees also elevates the profile of the University and allows the AD to develop the necessary relationships to recruit and retain coaching and other staff — in Paul Krebs’ case this resulted in a prestigious appointment to the NCAA basketball committee. Having UNM represented at the Final Four, or events such as the MWC tournament, does provide a public benefit.”
The men’s Final Four is arguably the largest collegiate athletics job-related event of the year. Hundreds of universities are represented by coaches and administrators. There are meetings, conferences and industryrelated seminars throughout the week.
But his family? Per his contract, Krebs’ wife and dependent children were allowed to accompany him on work trips. That is a contract clause common for many athletic directors.
Other than a $1,936 hotel tab from the 2014 Final Four in Dallas used for Krebs’ brother, which the former AD reimbursed in August, the tens of thousands of dollars reported in the piece were all work-related expenses and allowed by law and UNM policy, Krebs said in an email exchange with the Journal. He added, “and every one (of the trips) involved either donor development or national intercollegiate athletics business, or both.”
In Dallas, Krebs’ brother used a room that UNM athletics paid for in advance and would expect donor reimbursement. Krebs said: “Hotel rooms at the Final Four require a four-night minimum stay and are typically non-refundable. I reserved an additional room for a donor who had to cancel at the last minute. The university was on the hook for the cost of the room. When it came to my attention that the university had not been reimbursed, I did so immediately.”
That reimbursement check was delivered to UNM in August after both state auditors, and Barker, asked about the expenditure.
All other expenses mentioned in the television piece that were paid for on Krebs’ UNM-issued purchasing card, including several Final Four tickets and hotel stays for boosters, other UNM employees, regents or other Krebs family members, UNM says, have all been reimbursed appropriately. For the recent Final Four, all reimbursement checks were delivered to UNM within one month of the Final Four taking place, according to copies of the checks KRQE aired in its broadcast.
But the purchases by UNM were done months in advance of the event and even before UNM knew who all would attend the event. Doing so, UNM says, is common practice.
“This practice has been in place for a number of years, as the option to buy tickets is afforded to the AD in the early fall prior to the tournament, and must be purchased all at once,” Abdallah said.
Abdallah added he doesn’t want to comment further because he is awaiting the findings of audits still ongoing.