South Carolina state comptroller resigns in disgrace over $3.5 BILLION accounting error

South Carolina's state comptroller submitted a letter of resignation today after a years-long $3.5billion error was discovered in the state's budget.

Richard Eckstrom, who had served as South Carolina's chief accountant unopposed after winning elections for the past 20 years, today informed Governor Henry McMaster of his plans to step down on April 30.

For at least ten years his office incorrectly calculated the state's budget with faulty software that incorrectly doubled money coming from the state's universities and colleges. The error resulted in billions of overstated funds.

The error was discovered last year, but Eckstrom only disclosed it had happened this past February.

Eckstrom was first elected in 2002 and since won five elections. In his last election in 2002, he ran unopposed.

Richard Eckstrom (pictured in 2009), South Carolina's comptroller, overstated the state budget by $3.5billion

South Carolina lawmakers moved to remove Eckstrom from his position after the error was announced. Above, the South Carolina State House

The comptroller announced his decision to resign in a one-page letter to Governor McMaster in which he spoke fondly of his tenure serving the state of South Carolina.

'I have never taken service to the state I love or the jobs to which I have been elected lightly, endeavoring to work with my colleagues, from constitutional officers to members of the General Assembly, to be a strong defender of the taxpayer and a good steward of their hard-earned dollars,' he wrote in the letter.

The letter failed to mention the financial error committed by his office.

When the mistake was made public in February, lawmakers expressed outrage over not being told about it for so long.

Members of the state senate launched an impeachment investigation into the situation, and a report published last week said he should be removed 'for willful neglect of duty.'

The report found the accounting error began when Eckstom's office switched over to a new software system years ago, and that nobody noticed it in the intervening years.

Responsibility for the mistake rested entirely on Eckstrom's shoulders, the report found.

Richard Eckstrom (left) sent a resignation letter to South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster

With the report, lawmakers voiced their intention to remove Eckstrom from office if he did not step down himself. 

During their investigation, lawmakers reduced Eckstrom's salary to $1 and began the process of adding a referendum to make the comptroller position a governor-appointed role, instead of an elected position.

In his resignation letter, Eckstrom voiced his support that the position should be appointment-based.

If those new measures are approved, the earliest they could come into effect would be 2026.

While the multi-billion-dollar overstatement was still being reported, it did not affect the state's budget as government agencies did not use the numbers Eckstrom's office accounted, according to the Post and Courier.

But outside groups, like Wall Street banks, did use his office's records to assess the state's finances.

Lawmakers are expected to select a successor for the position, according to the Post and Courier.