South Carolina lawmakers are pushing to impeach the state treasurer over an accounting error from years ago. It would be the first time an official is successfully impeached in the state.
A forensic audit traced the issue to a system conversion between 2012 and 2016.
The treasurer denies wrongdoing, calling the impeachment push a “witch hunt” and accusing lawmakers of wanting to replace the elected treasurer position with an appointed one to control public funds.
Full Story
South Carolina lawmakers are taking steps to impeach Treasurer Curtis Loftis. It comes after a report found a years-old accounting misstep had been annually covered up under his watch.
A 58-page report from Loftis’ office, dated Feb. 26, 2025, detailed the issue.
“To be clear, there is no mystery bank with $1.8 billion in it,” Loftis said. “There is no missing or misspent money, and all cash and investments have been properly managed and accounted for by the State Treasurer’s Office. The AlixPartners Report confirms this as well.”
The treasurer refers to the results of a multi-million dollar financial audit conducted by forensic analysts at AlixPartners.
What happened?
The analysts blame the state’s conversion from an old computer system to a newer one between 2012 and 2016. The audit revealed four cash accounts in the old system were “replaced by bank-specific general ledger accounts” in the new one.
The auditors said a separate account covered over the error. It only came to light after a separate issue led to the resignation of South Carolina Comptroller General Richard Eckstrom after two decades on the job. His successor pointed out the issue.
Impeachment
Lawmakers in the Republican-led South Carolina Legislature are calling for Loftis to either resign or face impeachment. According to The Associated Press, they claim that Loftis had previously lied under oath when telling them that he had invested the $1.8 billion in question.
Loftis called the push a witch hunt. He said lawmakers prefer to remove him and change the position to an appointed one than an elected one.
“These elected officials don’t want an elected state treasurer; they want an appointed one so they can control billions of public dollars for their own special interests,” he said on March 25.
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