Miami U. Will Return Gifts From Convicted Executive

Miami University of Ohio announced Friday that it will return about $5 million that it received from Thomas Petters, who last week was convicted of running a mammoth Ponzi scheme, The Oxford Press reported. Petters pledged a total of $15 million in honor of his son, John, a Miami student who died during a visit to Italy in 2004, and his daughter, Jennifer. Based on the gifts and pledges, the university created the John T. Petters Center for Leadership, Ethics and Skills Development and the Jennifer Petters Chair in Asian Business. “The university has no interest in keeping money that Mr. Petters obtained by fraud or deceit,” said David Hodge, Miami's president.