Jane Sanders, the wife of Bernie Sanders committed fraud against the state of Vermont and with it destroyed the college she had run for 7 years. Sanders had decided to double the size of the college, unfortunately they did not have the collateral or they they did not have the income to keep up payments for the land she wanted to purchase. So, what is a liberal to do? Well, she did what any other liberal would do, she lied. On her loan paperwork, she claimed endowments for the college of 2.7 million dollars over a five year period.
Sanders’ plan was to purchase 17 acres on the shore of Lake Champlain from the Archdiocese that needed to raise funds to pay off a sex abuse settlement. She planned to refurbish existing buildings that would allow the college to expand from 200 full time students to 400.
Jane Sanders had to apply to Vermont Educational and Health Buildings Finance Agency (VEHBFA), an agency run by the state that issues the tax free bonds. People’s Bank had agreed to buy the bonds. The only catch at that point was proving the 2.27 million in incoming donations. Sanders gave them a list of 31 endowments totaling 2.6 million and she told them with unconfirmed donations and pledges, the number they were expecting was just about five million. Evidently, someone fudged the numbers because the actual total was just 1.3 million.
That was a steep shortfall for a college with an annual budget of only 4 million and no endowment at all. The college was taken to the brink of bankruptcy and Sanders resigned just before she would have been shown the door, but not before she got a very generous severance package. That package was worth $200,000 to Sanders.
Jane Sanders got her $200k and as a result of her fraud, the college had to default on their loan and sell it’s assets to pay off the loan and as a result, the college closed it’s doors forever. Selling the 17 acres was not enough because Sanders had overpaid for the property. She paid ten million for land worth only a little less than 8 million.