ATLANTA, GA- On Tuesday, September 28, 2016, a Richmond County Grand Jury charged Roman Cibirka with two felony counts of Theft by Taking (O.C.G.A. § 16-8-2).

Roman Cibirka was the Vice Provost of Georgia Regents University (now Augusta University). Prior to serving as the Vice Provost he held positions as the Interim Vice President for Communications and Marketing as well as the Vice President for Instruction and Enrollment Management. Cibirka is a dentist by education and spent much of his career as a professor before transitioning to administration.

The Board of Regents received an anonymous hotline complaint in May 2013, containing allegations of malfeasance and a conflict of interest concerning Cibirka. Georgia Regents University Office of Internal Audit investigated the allegations and Cibirka’s relationship with a vendor, Barbara Raybourne. Raybourne was the president of Coastal Carolinas Marketing, a North Carolina based marketing firm which Cibirka had engaged to do work for the university.

The audit investigation revealed that in 2012, Cibirka created a contract and an invoice for Raybourne to bill the university for $10,000 worth of services that were never performed. Raybourne personally received $10,000 from the University after the invoice was submitted and Raybourne, in turn, gave $5,000 to Cibirka.

The investigation further revealed that between 2012 and 2013, Raybourne received significant dental work from the GRU College of Dental Medicine at Cibirka’s direction. Cibirka directed that the $15,322.00 invoice for the work be paid by the university using grant funds.

Assistant Attorney General Blair McGowan presented the case to the Richmond County Grand Jury. The case was investigated by Associate Director Kathleen Boyd and Chief Audit Executive Clay Sprouse with the Augusta University Office of Internal Audit.

Members of the public should keep in mind that indictments contain only allegations against the individual(s) against whom the indictment is sought. A defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty, and it will be the government’s burden at trial to prove the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of the allegations contained in the indictment.