Fifteen articles examine South Carolina’s $1.8B accounting error and leadership fallout
South Carolina's financial management struggles have drawn scrutiny in light of significant accounting discrepancies, infrastructure cost overruns, and public trust concerns. The state faces an ongoing SEC investigation over a $1.8 billion accounting error, which involves failures in oversight by multiple agencies and years of unaddressed issues within state financial systems. Simultaneously, challenges like the South Carolina Infrastructure Bank’s inability to address ballooning project budgets, including overruns in major road projects, threaten to delay future infrastructure development.
Public funds are further complicated by inefficiencies in returning unclaimed assets to rightful owners, with nearly $70 million in small unclaimed amounts remaining inaccessible to residents. These issues highlight systemic governance gaps and signal an urgent need for improved auditing, interagency cooperation, and transparent financial practices.
NO. 1: LOFTIS ‘ABROGATED HIS RESPONSIBILITIES’ AS TREASURER, SC SENATOR SAYS OVER $1.8B ACCOUNT
State Treasurer Curtis Loftis testified for about six hours during a combative hearing in front of a state Senate Finance panel. | Published April 3, 2024 | Read Full Story by Joseph Bustos
NO. 2: SC TREASURER NEARLY POSTED SENSITIVE FINANCIAL INFORMATION BEFORE HIS OFFICE WAS STOPPED
The revelation was made as senators issued a report on the treasurer’s office and the existence of an account with $1.8 billion and how no one knows where the money belongs. | Published April 16, 2024 | Read Full Story by Joseph Bustos
NO. 3: SC TREASURER COMMITTED IMPEACHABLE OFFENSES, SENATOR SAYS, BUT WILL HOUSE MAKE A MOVE?
Treasurer Curtis Loftis has criticized the Senate Finance Committee investigation into his office over the existence of a $1.8 billion account. | Published April 22, 2024 | Read Full Story by Joseph Bustos
NO. 4: TENSIONS WERE HIGH OVER SC’S MYSTERY $1.8B. HOW A TASK FORCE WORKED THROUGH SIMMERING ISSUES
Before the creation of the task force, the treasurer’s office and comptroller general’s office appeared to be pointing fingers at one another. | Published July 15, 2024 | Read Full Story by Joseph Bustos
NO. 5: MOST OF SC’S MYSTERIOUS $1.8 BILLION NEVER EXISTED, ACCORDING TO AN INDEPENDENT AUDITOR
SC Treasurer Curtis Loftis defended his office ahead of the report’s release, saying the money existed and has always been accounted for. Did the auditors place the blame on his office? | Published January 15, 2025 | Read Full Story by Joseph Bustos
NO. 6: WITH SC’S FINANCES UNDER SEC INVESTIGATION, LAWMAKERS SEEK FINANCIAL ‘BABYSITTER’
An outside forensic auditing firm recommended the state hire a third-party compliance officer after determining most of a mysterious $1.8 billion listing was not real money. | Published January 22, 2025 | Read Full Story by Joseph Bustos
NO. 7: SC’S STATE AUDITOR RESIGNS FROM JOB AMID CONTROVERSY OVER STATE’S $1.8B ACCOUNTING ERROR
Kennedy has been South Carolina’s state auditor since October 2015. | Published January 23, 2025 | Read Full Story by Joseph Bustos
NO. 8: SC TREASURER LOFTIS VOWS TO STAY IN OFFICE, AFTER AUDITOR RESIGNS AMID $1.8 BILLION ERROR
“We can’t allow a treasurer to be pushed out because of other people’s failures” South Carolina Treasurer Loftis told a House Ways and Means panel. | Published January 29, 2025 | Read Full Story by Joseph Bustos
NO. 9: SC HOUSE GOP STOPS SHORT OF CALLING ON LOFTIS TO LEAVE AFTER $1.8B ERROR. HERE’S WHY
Treasurer Curtis Loftis has vowed to finish his term despite calls to resign from members of state Senate. | Published February 3, 2025 | Read Full Story by Joseph Bustos
NO. 10: SC TREASURER’S OFFICE PAID FOR CRISIS COMMUNICATIONS HELP AMID $1.8B ACCOUNTING ERROR
The SC treasurer’s office also also hired a subject matter expert to help with understanding the annual comprehensive financial report. | Published February 19, 2025 | Read Full Story by Joseph Bustos
NO. 11: SC MADE BILLION-DOLLAR ACCOUNTING ERRORS. HERE’S HOW MUCH IT’S COSTING IN ATTORNEY FEES
Lawyers are being paid to represent SC’s Comptroller General, Auditor and Treasurer’s offices amid an SEC investigation. | Published March 3, 2025 | Read Full Story by Joseph Bustos
NO. 12: SENATE PANEL ACCUSES SC TREASURER OF VIOLATING FEDERAL, STATE LAW IN SCATHING $1.8B REPORT
Most of the $1.8 billion listed in a flow through fund did not exist. | Published March 25, 2025 | Read Full Story by Joseph Bustos
NO. 13: SC SENATE VOTES TO OUST TREASURER CURTIS LOFTIS OVER $1.8B ACCOUNTING ERROR
Most of the $1.8 billion listed in a flow through fund set up during switch in accounting systems never existed, an independent audit report found. | Published April 22, 2025 | Read Full Story by Joseph Bustos
NO. 14: SC HOUSE FOCUSED ON OTHER BILLS RATHER THAN TREASURER. WHY LOFTIS MAY BE SAFE FOR NOW
The South Carolina Senate voted 33-8 to remove Loftis for willful neglect of duty. The move comes after a $1.8 billion accounting error where most of that money did not exist. | Published April 28, 2025 | Read Full Story by Joseph Bustos
NO. 15: LOFTIS’ OFFICE UNDER SC INSPECTOR GENERAL INVESTIGATION. HERE’S THE SCOPE
The South Carolina treasurer has been in the spotlight over a $1.8 billion accounting error. The state Senate recently voted to remove Loftis for willful neglect of duty. The resolution has been sent to the House Ways and Means Committee for its consideration. | Published May 2, 2025 | Read Full Story by Joseph Bustos
The summary above was drafted with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists in our News division. All stories listed were reported, written and edited by McClatchy journalists.