Bump said this week’s findings about the Billerica-based collaborative by Inspector General Gregory W. Sullivan have identified “some clear criminal wrongdoing, but what we’re endeavoring to do is determine whether we have a total system failure.’’
Bump’s comments were made as other Beacon Hill leaders expressed anger over Sullivan’s findings, detailed in yesterday’s Globe, and as Attorney General Martha Coakley’s office confirmed that the findings are being reviewed by her Public Integrity and Public Charities divisions.
“We are taking this matter extremely seriously,’’ said Brad Puffer, spokesman for Coakley, adding that criminal and civil prosecutors “are both conducting a comprehensive review of these allegations.’’
Earlier this week, Sullivan released the findings of a yearlong investigation of the Merrimack collaborative and a related nonprofit organization, the Merrimack Education Center in Chelmsford.
He found that John B. Barranco, the center’s executive director, had fleeced the collaborative, which is publicly funded, of more than $10 million, in part through two 2006 contracts that Sullivan said are invalid.
According to the inspector general, Barranco paid himself, a former girlfriend, and a handful of top staff members inflated salaries and used a credit card issued by the nonprofit to pay for more than $50,000 in personal expenses, including improvements to vacation homes in New Hampshire and Florida.
Sullivan also said Barranco used deception to increase the six-figure pension he receives as the former executive director of the collaborative.
Governor Deval Patrick said he found Sullivan’s findings “deeply disturbing’’ and called on Coakley to review them.
“First order of business is to see that the attorney general does what I think she will do, which is take appropriate action,’’ he said.
Patrick also said, “When I look at the fact that this is an agency that is supposed to be responsible for special education funding and that there are serious allegations of misappropriation, that just burns me.’’
