Kansas Bioscience Authority vows to honor commitments to client companies.

Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback’s administration is withholding $22 million from the Kansas Bioscience Authority after an audit raised questions about a former CEO.

That audit, which was conducted by the BKD LLP firm, found that KBA’s operations are sound, the KBA said. But it also identified issues involving former chief Tom Thornton, who left the authority in 2011.

According to a statement from the KBA, the audit found that:

• Thornton reportedly had the KBA buy him a plane ticket for a job interview in Cleveland, Ohio, where he now works.
• He inadvertently received a duplicate expense reimbursement and an overpayment on his car allowance.
• He allegedly failed to inform the KBA’s board of directors about his relationship with a KBA staffer whom he married in early 2011.
• He used a KBA-owned painting for his personal use and then gave it away.

Thornton has paid the authority $4,679.88 in reimbursement, the KBA wrote.

After the audit was released, the governor urged the authority from undertaking any projects “until the Kansas Legislature decides what kind of future the state wants for the KBA,” according to a statement from Brownback’s office.

The KBA says it plans to pay the money that it has promised to its client companies. The authority has about $83 million in its accounts, a spokeswoman said.

“Rest assured the KBA can and will continue to make payments on committed funds based on the terms of our agreement with you,” KBA board chairman Dan Watkins wrote in a letter to the authority’s client companies.

“The KBA board has not voted to institute a moratorium on new investments, and we intend to keep our investment promises.”

While it has enough cash for the short term, if state funding stops completely, the authority won’t be able to keep its funding commitments, it said.

“We are meeting with legislators regarding the audit findings and the value of the KBA to organizations like yours,” Watkins wrote. “You may want to let your Representative and Senator know how you perceive the KBA and its activities. Forensic audits do not typically involve interviews with clients and others who have positive experiences with the KBA and its activities.”

Based in Olathe, the authority is an independent government entity created by Kansas in 2004. The authority invests state money in bioscience research and start-ups. Its funding comes from state income taxes created by bioscience jobs.