Feds now eyeing embattled Essex County College

An attorney for the Newark-based college confirmed it received subpoenas from the U.S. Attorney's office late last week Watch video

NEWARK - Already dogged by the suspension of its president and a state investigation, Essex County College now appears to be under scrutiny by the federal government.

Joe Hayden, an attorney for the college, said the school received a subpoena from U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman's office late last week. He declined to say exactly what materials the office was seeking.

"I don't think it's appropriate to go into the documents, but we will promptly and efficiently comply with (the subpoenas)," he said.

Matthew Reilly, a spokesman for Fishman, said the office could neither confirm or deny the existence of any investigation.

College scandal widens with state subpoenas, new focus on athletics

Its apparent foray into the school, however, marks at least the second law enforcement agency to request documents from the Newark-based community college since its Board of Trustees suspended President Gale Gibson and General Counsel and Vice President for Human Resources Rashidah Hasan in late March.

Less than two weeks later, the state attorney general's office issued subpoenas for documents related to a credit card spending scandal in the school's athletic department. Longtime track and cross country coach Michael Smart resigned in October after being unable to produce receipts for tens of thousands in expenses on the school-issued cards.

Multiple sources at the school, who asked not to be identified because they were not authorized to speak on the matter, confirmed the state comptroller's office is also in the midst of a wide-ranging investigation into the school's finances.

A. Zachary Yamba, an Essex County College President Emeritus who agreed to replace Gibson on an acting basis last month, said he had directed staff to comply with any and all requests for documents, but declined to comment directly on any of the probes.

"They've been coming fast and furious," he said.

The college has been thrust into turmoil since the suspensions of Gibson and Hasan, which Gibson claims is retribution for raising concerns over the athletic credit card spending, county officials' use of a campus print shop and other alleged financial irregularities.

The school's Board of Trustees, meanwhile, alleges Gibson overstepped her authority on multiple occasions, including raiding employee hard drives and blocking colleagues from lodging complaints or otherwise communicating with its members. Attorneys for both Gibson and Hasan could not be reached for comment.

The controversies have also caught the eye of the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, the non-profit group that accredits area colleges.

Richard Pokrass, a spokesman for the commission, confirmed that it sent a letter to school officials April 4 requesting a supplemental report "addressing recent developments at the College which may have implications for current and future compliance" with several of the commission's 14 accreditation standards, including institutional resources, leadership and governance, administration and integrity.

Essex County College has faced issues with accreditation before. In 2011, the school received a formal warning in 2011 that it could face probation if it didn't improve methods of measuring how the institution was performing and whether students were learning what they should in class.

Accreditation is critical to any institution's operations, and students at non-accredited schools could have difficulty obtaining financial aid or run into problems with other colleges if they try to transfer credits or enroll in graduate school.

Yamba said he was not concerned that the multiple probes might place its accreditation in danger.

"Anytime a member institution makes headlines in the press, it's due diligence basically to send a letter," he said. "A lot of things are happening, however, we are on top of the situation."