South Carolina comptroller to resign after $3.5B error

By JAMES POLLARD
Associated Press/Report for America

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Embattled South Carolina Comptroller General Richard Eckstrom will resign next month after a $3.5 billion accounting error in the year-end financial report he oversaw. The state’s chief accountant will leave the elected post he has held for 20 years on April 30, according to a copy of the resignation letter obtained by The Associated Press. The blunder’s revelation last month brought mounting scrutiny. House lawmakers called for an impeachment inquiry. The Senate panel investigating the error issued a damning report last week that suggested Eckstrom resign or face removal “for willful neglect of duty.” Senators’ report rested responsibility for the mapping error that began during the state’s transition to a new internal information system solely with Eckstrom.