According to the Koper-based newspaper Primorske Novice, the audit was ordered by University of Ljubljana Chancellor Igor Papič after the faculty's new dean Roman Kuhar alerted him of the suspicions.
The audit report, which Papič received earlier this month, produced such conclusions that the chancellor referred it to the Ljubljana District Prosecution's Office the very next day.
The paper reports that Papič also ordered the deans of other members of the university to examine their books and to report back to him in writing.
Unofficial information obtained by Primorske, Kuhar found that something was wrong after he took over from the Faculty of Arts's previous dean, Branka Kalenić Ramšak, at the end of last year.
What set the alarm bells ringing was a contentious outsourcing contract under which one dean was paid EUR 1,000 a month.
The internal audit is said to have shown that the faculty had been making such monthly payments to deans and deputy deans for at least a decade.
The audit did not go beyond ten years back because the legal opinion obtained by the faculty indicated that any embezzlement committed earlier would have become statute barred.
The amount of allegedly unwarranted payments changed through the years, but most recently, the dean allegedly received EUR 1,000 gross a month under such subcontract and the deputy deans EUR 500, according to Primorske.
The paper writes that the payments mean that the deans and deputy deans had been paid office allowances twice. They made about half a million euro in this way within ten years, according to rough estimates.
The audit is reported to have also indicated incorrect payment of allowances to department heads and their deputies, but the payments stopped in 2015 and these officials were not paid double allowances.
Kalenić Ramšak, the previous dean, would not comment on the allegations and neither would the leadership of the university and the faculty, which said this would not benefit the investigation.
Katarina Bergant, the head of the Ljubljana Prosecution Office, confirmed that the prosecution had received the audit report, which she said would be examined by the prosecutor in charge, who would decide on potential further steps.
