Campus Officers Claim Retaliation After Textbook Scam Inquiry
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PLANO (CBS 11 NEWS) - Police officers say they've uncovered a scheme involving more than $1,000,000 worth of textbooks at Collin College, but that investigation has reportedly led to retaliation and threats.
The Collin College Police Department is facing accusations of corruption, and those accusations come from three of its own officers. It all stems from an investigation into charges of fraud that target officials at the highest levels of the school administration.
Students at Collin College couldn't believe it as they learned the details of an alleged scheme to steal thousands of textbooks from the school and sell them back to vendors for more than a million dollars.
"That's kind of shameful honestly, stealing from a community college," said second year student Sherwin Kamyab.
"I think it's crazy that the school would be in on something like that because really they're taking away from the students if anything," added first year student Kayli Prins.
Three Collin College police officers are suing the school. They say high-ranking officials, including police chief Michael Gromatzky, tried to cover up the textbook theft and shut down their investigation. They're calling for Gromatzky's resignation as well that of the Director of Public Safety and the Chief Financial Officer.
"It takes a lot of courage to come out and tell the public that your own police department is corrupt," the officers' attorney, Victoria Neave, said.
CBS 11 News tried to reach Gromatsky for comment, as well as the other officials, but a school spokesperson said none would be going on camera.
The school's attorney wrote in a statement -
"Collin College categorically denies that anyone did anything fraudulent or illegal." The statement calls the lawsuit meritless and filed by, "three disgruntled Collin College police officers."
The officers say Collin College started to retaliate against them, which prompted the lawsuit claiming violations of the Texas Whistleblower Act. They also claim an anonymous death threat against the group came in the form of a letter left at one of their homes.
The sheriff's department gave CBS 11 a copy of the note. At the top is the quote, "God grant me the Serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the Courage to change the things I can and the Wisdom to know the difference." The words, "Heart of Ice Eyes of Justice," are handwritten below the quote.
A spokesperson for the sheriff's department says they have found no credible threat against the officers, and they have closed the investigation.
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