Wow.

OSHKOSH – While the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh foundation grapples with whether to declare bankruptcy to cover $14.5 million in debt, the fate of the chancellor’s foundation-owned residence remains unclear.

The foundation bought the home at 1423 Congress Ave. in January 2013 from then-Chancellor Richard Wells and his wife, Christie, according to Winnebago County property records. The foundation bought the home for $450,000 — nearly $120,000 more than fair market value — about 1 ½ years before Wells retired in August 2014 and moved to Florida.

Let’s understand what happened here… according to accusation in the lawsuit, then-Chancellor Richard Wells illegally used public funds to guarantee and fund private, for-profit building projects to the tune of millions of dollars. Now we find out that the same foundation bought Wells’ house for over $100k more than fair market value in the same time period that Wells was allegedly illegally funneling them public funds. Sure looks like part of a payoff…