CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — An arrest warrant has been issued for a former employee of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine on allegations of purchasing card fraud.

Suzanne Kratz is accused of using multiple School of Medicine-issued University purchasing cards to make approximately $49,000 worth of personal purchases. Kratz resigned her School of Medicine position on March 26.

According to the UNC police department, Kratz's alleged personal purchases were discovered during a routine audit of purchasing card use. A misuse of funds report has been sent to the state Bureau of Investigation, and an internal university audit continues.

Jeffrey L. Houpt, dean of the School of Medicine and CEO of the UNC Health Care System, has ordered that an inventory be taken of all School of Medicine-issued purchasing cards.

All units have been directed to stringently control the number of active purchasing cards, consistent with their operational requirements. Moreover, purchasing card purchases must be reconciled at the departmental level, by someone other than the person who made the purchase.

There have been only two known incidents of purchasing card abuse within the School of Medicine in the last five years. Both were revealed in the course of regular auditing activities by the university.