THeo J. Harper '25 was removed from the group in December for transferring $170,000 to an unofficial bank account over two months as part of a secret financial stress test unknown to IRC's highest leadership. After being temporarily removed, he sued Harvard's Council on International Relations.
Mr. Harper's legal action against IRC comes less than a month after Mr. Harper sent an interim report on the stress tests to IRC executives, and the group removed him from the organization at a Dec. 22 board meeting. This was done in response to a sudden decision to temporarily exclude the group.
Mr. Harper's account of how he directed $170,000 in IRC funds and his decision to suspend him from the group is based on internal documents and the anonymity with which he speaks candidly about private IRC matters. Based on interviews with five people.
Mr. Harper's lawsuit over the exercise and his subsequent temporary ban exposed deep-seated tensions on the IRC's board over complaints about the organization's financial management and lack of transparency from top leadership.
“The money was leaked over a period of seven weeks.”
In an attempt to internally expose IRC's own financial security flaws, Harper on September 29 transferred funds destined for the group's Bank of America deposit account to a Choice bank created for financial stress testing purposes. Started secretly redirecting to financial bank accounts.
Professor Harper conducted the stress test in direct response to the former president of Harvard University's Foreign Policy Initiative. Two people familiar with IRC governance said about $30,000 was transferred from the organization to individual bank accounts. (Mr. Harper served as HUFPI's Senior Director of Finance from January 2023 to January 2024.)
An interim report authored by Mr Harper said the methods used to conduct the stress tests were “legal and within the scope of his role as a member of an internal strategy committee within the IRC, known as the Strategy and Social Impact Committee. “It was inside,” he wrote. Harper talks about stress testing.
However, the IRC partially disputed Harper's account in an emailed statement Tuesday.
“His actions were not approved by the board,” the IRC said in a statement. “A third-party investigation was conducted.”
Harper declined to comment for this article.
Harper accessed the chief auditor's account on the IRC's online accounting platform and then opened a new account at South Dakota-based Choice Financial Bank, which the IRC reported, according to a copy of the report obtained. It was officially certified through the auditor's account. By The Crimson.
The report states that financial stress tests “identify potential attack vectors and observe officer responses will be a learning experience that will help close holes in defenses and uncover unknown risks.” Says.
Approximately $170,000 was deposited into another bank account created by Harper between September 29 and November 20, after which the funds were returned to the official account and full control of the account was restored.
It is unclear exactly when IRC was able to fully restore access to the external accounts created by Harper.
Yulin Li, an external accountant hired by IRC, filed a complaint with IRC Financial Director Michael G. Baxter ’24 and Group Chief Auditor Matas Kudarauskas ’25 on October 20 regarding the financial security breach. I warned you first. Details about the new bank.
Lee followed up on the new bank twice, on October 26 and October 31, but Kudalauskas told Lee on November 1 that the IRC “could not find any records” of the new account. Ta.
The report concluded by slamming IRC treasurers for their slow response to Lee's increasingly panicked emails and the IRC board's lack of transparency.
“The lack of urgency shown by the Treasurer and the Chief Auditor was extremely worrying,” the interim report said. “For seven weeks money was drained from IRC and they did nothing.”
“It took a month to issue a panicked alert to help our external auditors and other auditors make the changes,” the report added.
IRC's board did not receive Harper's email despite Harper's recommendation in his stress test report that top management notify the entire board, according to people familiar with the matter. The company was first informed of its financial vulnerabilities.
“The lack of board transparency is extremely concerning,” the report said. “Boards need to be aware of what's going on so they can take appropriate action to support decision-making and protect the interests of the organization.”
“My illegal eviction”
In a Feb. 10 email obtained by The Crimson, Mr. Harper claimed he suffered emotional harm from his firing and demanded compensation for being unable to participate in several upcoming Model United Nations conferences. It is said that he did.
In a Feb. 10 email that Mr. Harper sent to IRC Leadership and Associate Dean of Student Engagement Jason R. Meyer, he said he would be fined 10,000 yen for emotional damages caused by “my illegal removal.” demanded an additional $5,500 for HNMUN and HMUN's denial of involvement in Africa. .
Harper was previously senior editor and digital media director at Harvard International Review and committee director for the Harvard Model United Nations and the Harvard National Model United Nations.
Mr. Harper argued that his expulsion from the IRC violated Massachusetts law, specifically pointing to Title XXII, Section 180, Section 18 of Part 1 of the Massachusetts General Laws. This article stipulates that a company may not expel a member by less than a majority vote.
In a statement, the IRC confirmed that its board of directors had voted to temporarily remove Harper from its membership.
The amount in Mr. Harper's small claims case against the IRC is $7,000, the maximum amount for a small claims claim in Massachusetts.
The case was filed in Cambridge District Court on February 19th and is scheduled to be heard on April 9th.
In his email, Harper also wrote that all legal costs incurred will be billed to the IRC in accordance with the IRC's terms and conditions.
Mr Harper also called on the IRC and the Dean of Students to acknowledge his “unlawful” expulsion and ensure his full reinstatement.
The IRC wrote in a statement Tuesday that an independent investigation into Harper's actions concluded on Monday. The group did not disclose details of the findings.
The group's board of directors plans to “vote on a schedule for reinstatement as a general member in good standing” of the IRC by early March, the statement said.
“The Board denies any liability related to the allegations in Mr. Harper's complaint,” the IRC wrote. “HIRC has always worked collaboratively with school officials and her DSO.”
A university spokesperson declined to comment on the lawsuit.
—Staff writer Azusa M. Lippit can be reached at azusa.lippit@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @azusalipit Or in the thread @azasalippit.
