Lang
10/13/25
A former University of Iowa employee has pleaded guilty to charges he defrauded the school out of almost $1 million.
According to a news release from the Johnson County Attorney’s Office, former UI employee Brian Busch pleaded guilty to charges of 1st Degree Theft and 1st Degree Fraudulent Practices. As part of a plea deal, charges of Tampering with Records and Ongoing Criminal Conduct were dismissed. Busch will have to pay financial restitution to the UI in the amount of $173,097.60 as part of the plea agreement.
An investigation by Iowa Auditor Rob Sand determined in September of last year that Busch’s privately-owned company, D3signtech, was getting paid for completing jobs for an outside company at the UI Department of Physics and Astronomy machine shop. Busch was the head of the machine shop at the time, and the jobs were completed by either Busch or his D3signtech employees while they were getting paid by the UI.
The UI placed Busch on paid administrative leave in September of 2021. Sand questioned that decision in light of previous issues the UI had with Busch in 2019 when he had to repay over $3,500 for a separate incident.
The date for Busch’s sentencing is currently pending.
A copy of Sands’ report can be found at https://www.auditor.iowa.gov/reports/file/77540.pdf.