As reported in a May 2010 Lincoln Journal Star article by Nancy Hicks, Johnson used about $43,400 from a college-related account to pay personal bills.

Upon his hiring, Johnson did not reveal to the NSCS that he spent nine months in a California county jail due to a 1989 felony conviction. He was found guilty of selling limited partnerships improperly in excess of $100,000, according to the Lincoln Journal Star.

He also misled college leaders about his previous employment by using a letterhead from a college from which he had been terminated two months before.

Johnson committed suicide on April 12, 2010, while he was under criminal investigation related to his use of the college funds.

Johnson’s problems surfaced soon after he retired from Peru, when it became public he failed to disclose more than $450,000 in deferred compensation he received from the college’s private foundation while he was president of the college.

Frye said the new policy and hotline are not a reaction to Ben Johnson.

Carpenter said that the background checks for new hires were implemented upon hiring Johnson.