Update, 7:16 p.m.:

Sgt. Jose DeJesus, state police spokesperson, said the investigation is “preliminary” and the state police force still has to decide what their investigative role will be. DeJesus said the ISP are supposed to be meeting with NIU officials to determine who would proceed with this investigation.

Original Article:

NIU has confirmed the existence of a coffee fund.

According to an NIU Today article, the fund has existed for over 20 years at a local bank. The fund was not NIU-authorized, according to the article, and the money was not used for “personal purpose or gain.”

The account had $2,100 in it as of August 2012, according to the article. According to a Daily Chronicle article, NIU employees would take scrap metal to the DeKalb Iron & Metal Co., where they sold it and deposited the funds into a coffee fund. The Daily Chronicle article said the company has electronic records that date back to February 2005 and DIMCO checks indicate the company has paid out more than $13,000 in checks to the account since that time.