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More than $1 billion annually was funneled through ORU, a former accountant claims.

A former Oral Roberts University accountant revised his lawsuit Thursday to allege that more than $1 billion annually was funneled through the university, possibly to regents.

"It appears that many of the former board members were actual participants in the funneling of money through the university for their own eventual personal use, and thus, the foxes were watching the hen house," says former accountant Trent Huddleston's lawsuit.

The money "was not used for any legitimate purpose" that Huddleston knew, his lawsuit says.

"I have no answers about where this money came from, nor where it went," said Huddleston's attorney, Gary Richardson.

ORU spokesman Jeremy Burton said, "The allegations of inappropriately funneling money through accounts as alleged by the plaintiff

Richardson said Huddleston saw the account when he worked at ORU, between July 2006 and October 2007. In the lawsuit, Huddleston claims he was wrongfully fired because ORU, Oral Roberts Ministries and their leaders feared he would talk about the alleged " 'unrestricted' account" and because he regularly questioned expenses.

In 2005-06, ORU's expenses were $83.89 million and revenue was $79.7 million, according to its Internal Revenue Service filing. That same year, the Oral Roberts Evangelistic Association had expenses of $14.3 million and revenue of $12.78 million, according to its filing.

Richardson said he received confirmation about the alleged unrestricted account from a person who should know. He declined to identify the person. Until he received confirmation, he agreed that funneling of $1 billion seemed implausible.

"Based on the confirmation, I'm very confident," Richardson said. "As confident as one can be without seeing it for oneself."

Richardson had not seen any documentation of the alleged account or flow of money, he said, and he "cannot disclose" whether the information came from an audit of ORU's finances.

ORU's former board of regents hired a Washington, D.C., law firm in October to oversee an audit of ORU's finances and more, after more of Richardson's clients sued ORU. They alleged that then-ORU President Richard Roberts and his family had misspent ORU and Oral Roberts Ministries money. Roberts said he paid for his family's expenses, and denied wrongdoing.

ORU has not made the audit public, and former board of regents Chairman George Pearsons previously said the board received the report verbally.

Roberts resigned about two months after the first lawsuit was filed by three former professors, who claimed they wrongfully lost their jobs. The board of regents was replaced by trustees this month, based on requirements from the Green family, which donated $70 million to ORU.

The board of trustees issued a written statement Thursday, saying it "is committed to resolving outstanding litigation against the university brought under the former administration."

The new version of Huddleston's lawsuit adds as defendants all 23 of ORU's former business regents, a former associate regent, Oral Roberts Evangelistic Association and the directors of the association/Oral Roberts Ministries. He also is suing ORU, Oral Roberts Ministries, Roberts and his wife, Lindsay Roberts. His lawsuit alleges he was ordered to "cook the books" and "falsely list thousands of dollars as expenses rather than assets."

April Marciszewski 581-8475
april.marciszewski@tulsaworld.com