UI investigation deadline nears

BOISE – Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson faces a statute of limitations deadline Friday in his criminal investigation of University Place, the University of Idaho’s attempt to expand into Boise.

He declined to say specifically how he would deal with the deadline, but said the investigation would continue.

“If we have to make use of the court system to protect our investigation, we will,” Thompson told the Associated Press on Wednesday. “We’ll certainly take whatever steps we need to so we can protect the investigation and get at the truth.”

University Place was planned as a $136 million, three-building project by the University of Idaho to expand into Boise. Only one building was finished.

The University of Idaho Foundation, UI’s private, nonprofit fundraising arm, ran into problems in 2002 when Idaho’s economy faltered and the university lent the foundation money for the project without the required permission from the state Board of Education.

Civil cases have been settled, but the criminal investigation continues.

An important date in that investigation is June 30, 2001, the end of the fiscal year and when financial dealings involving University Place would have appeared in the foundations and UI’s accounting books. Any criminal activity that occurred up to that date would fall under a five-year statute of limitations.

However, Thompson said University Place existed in accounts until at least January 2003. Also, he said there are legal maneuvers that can be used to essentially stop the clock on the statute, if a judge agrees. He declined to say whether he was planning to ask a judge to do that.

Meanwhile, he said he is looking into information about University Place that Assistant U.S. Attorney Allan Garten of Portland gave him. “There is an enormous amount of information generated,” Thompson told the Idaho Statesman. “We want to make sure that we aren’t overlooking something.”

He said no decision has been made about filing charges.