Oh My Fraud

There may be errors in spelling, grammar, and accuracy in this machine-generated transcript.

Caleb Newquist: Imagine you've got a friend who always gets tickets to the hottest shows in town through their work. I'm talking Les Miserables, Justin Timberlake, Jay-Z, even the World Series. Where do you think they work? A big corporation. Ticketmaster. Maybe the local scalping collective? Nope. It's none of those places. Your friend works at the zoo? Yes. The zoo.

Earmark CPE: If you'd like to earn CPE credit [00:00:30] for listening to this episode, visit CPE, download the app, take a short quiz, and get your CPE certificate. Continuing education has never been so easy. And now on to the episode.

Caleb Newquist: This is on My Fraud, a true crime podcast where crime pays and sometimes even comes with sweet perks. I'm Caleb Newquist. [00:01:00] Oh, right. That dead air you hear is the absence of my co-host, Greg Kite. This is the first episode we're doing without Greg Kite. And if this is news to you, then you obviously didn't listen to the recap episode that we dropped on January 1st. That's when Greg and I discussed his leaving the podcast. And I suggest you go listen to that if you want to get the full story. In short, I can tell you that Greg has stepped away to take care of his mental health and we of course wish him the very best. I told [00:01:30] him this, but I'll just say it in front of you all listening. He's welcome back anytime. But until that day, the show for now must go on. And my first order of business as the now solo host of this podcast is to read a listener review that I think Greg would have enjoyed very much. This review is from user unpronounceable, but it's the letters J, Nfbc and Esq and that jumble writes [00:02:00] on Apple Podcasts quote, I don't know why you would use language that is coarse and filthy on a podcast like this. It repels a portion of your audience and doesn't add any value. I'll have to stop listening. That was a two star review, which seems to be two more stars than a podcast that doesn't add any value would get.

Caleb Newquist: But nevertheless, that one is for you, Greg. I cannot say whether the podcast will be less coarse [00:02:30] and filthy now that Greg has rode off into the sunset, but we'll see. As for this review, um, I'm sorry that you had to stop listening. Best of luck finding a wholesome, family friendly fraud podcast. I'm sure there's one out there. I just don't know what it is. Good luck. Now, before we get into today's episode, let me just remind you that if your organization or conference is looking for a live presentation on fraud or ethics, then that is something that Greg and I are still doing together. In fact, we'll be presenting [00:03:00] at the new Jersey society of CPAs Convention and Expo on June 5th in Atlantic City. So if you're a CPA and you're in new Jersey, come check us out. It'll be fun and you'll get some CPE in the process. I'm throwing a link to that show's page in the show notes if you are interested. Also, there's webinars. We do those two. Episode 76 the Sheriff of Frodingham was actually a case that we presented as a live webinar for More North America. It was a good time. And so [00:03:30] if any of that sounds good, email. Oh my. Fraud@earmark.com to get more information on pricing and availability. All right. That concludes all the business. Let's get into our story.

Caleb Newquist: Zoom in the United States date back to the mid 19th century. Barnum's [00:04:00] American Museum, started by Phineas Taylor, aka P.T. Barnum, operated from 1841 through 1865, in New York City, and it included a zoo and aquarium, among many other attractions. In November 1864, the Confederate Army of Manhattan, which was actually just eight dudes from the actual Confederacy. They attempted to burn down the museum as a part of this large arson conspiracy. Fortunately, that plot failed, [00:04:30] but unfortunately, a horrific fire on July 13th, 1865 resulted in the total destruction of the museum. According to a story in The New York Times from that time, it's a pretty fascinating little story. I threw some links into the show notes. Go down that rabbit hole if you feel so inclined. The first actual zoo zoo was the was the Philadelphia Zoo, opening on July 1st, 1874, earning its motto America's [00:05:00] First Zoo. How'd they come up with that? Also, fun fact the Works Progress Administration, that's the New Deal agency that was created during the FDR era, helped quote construction, renovation, and expansion of zoos. When the Great Depression severely reduced local budgets, according to a Wikipedia page. Zoos in Columbus, Ohio, the site of our story today, date back to 1905. This first zoo was simply [00:05:30] known. And this is true. It was known as the zoo. It opened in May of 1905, but then closed for unknown reasons in October of 1905.

Caleb Newquist: People just didn't like the name, I guess, I don't know. Anyway, the present Columbus Zoo opened in 1927 and was founded by the publisher of the Columbus Dispatch, Harry P Wolf, and the city's mayor, James J. Thomas after they visited the Saint Louis Zoo in 1920. I guess [00:06:00] the Saint Louis Zoo was kind of, kind of. It was one of the early zoos also. And it was it was it was a good zoo. Apparently back in the day. It might still be a good zoo. I have no idea. Anyway, amid financial difficulties, the city of Columbus took over management of the zoo in 1950, but eventually it was turned into a nonprofit in 1970. In 1978, Jack Hanna became the director of the Columbus Zoo. Now, that name may ring a bell because Jack Hanna appeared on television regularly to talk about [00:06:30] wild animals. I personally remember him mostly from being on the Late Show with David Letterman, but his appearances on Letterman date back to actually 1985 on the NBC show. He made a total of 102 appearances on Letterman's shows. Only sportscaster Marv Albert and Regis Philbin appeared more times. So that's pretty good pretty good company. So yeah, Jack Hanna went on Letterman a lot. You probably saw him if you're in my ballpark of age. Anyway, [00:07:00] Hanna's leadership of the zoo raised the profile significantly. Before his arrival, the zoo averaged about 360,000 visitors a year.

Caleb Newquist: And by 1992, a year before he retired as director, the zoo's annual visitors had grown to 1.4 million. So that's pretty good. After retiring, Hanna served as director emeritus until 2020. Another key person in the more recent history of the Columbus Zoo was Tom Stalf. Stalf [00:07:30] got his start in zoos as a reptile keeper at the Ohio. I don't know if I'm saying this right, but it's the Niabi zoo Niabi I don't know Niabi zoo. See, Greg's not here to, like, validate my my bad pronunciation. So we're going to have to just go forward together. The Niabi Zoo in Coal Valley, Illinois. Where's Coal Valley? Illinois coal Valley is in northwestern Illinois, three hours away from Chicago, in a region known as the Quad Cities. For [00:08:00] those unfamiliar, the Quad Cities consists of Davenport and Bettendorf, Iowa, and Rock Island and Moline, Illinois. Here's a non-sequitur the name the Niabi Niabi. The Niabi Zoo is only 30 minutes from Iowa 80, the world's largest truck stop. This truck stop sits on 220 acres of land. And if you don't know what an acre is or even any idea what 220 acres of land is like, SeaWorld in San Diego is on [00:08:30] 189 acres. So this truck stop is bigger than SeaWorld, and they have whales. So that's it's big. It has 5000 visitors a day and has parking for 900 trucks. Anyway, it was here, southeastern Iowa and northwestern Illinois, where Tom Stalf started his career in zoos as a reptile keeper.

Caleb Newquist: He became director at the Niabi Zoo in 1995 while he was still in his mid-twenties, making him one of the youngest zoo directors in the country. He was in that role for 15 [00:09:00] years before becoming the chief operating officer at the Columbus Zoo in 2010. When staff joined the Columbus Zoo, he and Jack Hanna had already been friends for years. In fact, Hanna had recommended him for the job. Stalf became interim CEO of the Columbus Zoo in 2012, when its executive director resigned, and the zoo's board unanimously approved him to become permanent CEO in 2013. It was that year, 2013, when [00:09:30] one of the zoo's benefactors died and left a house that they had owned to the zoo, and shortly after that, Tom Rolfe's in-laws moved into that house. I think one of the best things about working for a big, prominent organization is that usually there are nice perks. I personally remember attending the occasional sporting event or a concert, [00:10:00] sitting in a luxury box, availing myself to all manner of food and drink. And it's not like I had the whole thing to myself. That would be a little bit ridiculous, but I'd be there with my team and sometimes we were allowed to bring guests. Several years ago, a sales rep from a very large, very well known company that I'm not going to name, but it was a vendor of my wife.

Caleb Newquist: Uh, they invited us to a Denver Broncos game the night after Thanksgiving in their luxury box. And I tagged along as a guest. [00:10:30] And again, there's unlimited concessions and, uh, yeah, people were getting after it. You know, it was it was kind of funny to watch, um, this, you know, none of this is unusual. Many people, including some of you listening at home or in the car or at the at the gym or folding the laundry. Uh, you you might work in corporate America or from or for other, you know, prominent organizations, and you have enjoyed the largesse of these organizations under the guise of [00:11:00] marketing. You are maybe marketing to a potential client, or you've been marketed to as a prospective client. This is a fun type of marketing because it involves being entertained. And I guess if you don't like being entertained in any way, shape, or form, then you are likely impervious to this type of marketing. But I would argue most people like being entertained. And so this is a very effective marketing tactic. Where things kind [00:11:30] of get weird is when the marketing entertainment is done in ways that are potentially inappropriate. In March 2021, the Columbus Dispatch ran an investigation that found that Columbus Zoo executives, quote, allowed relatives to live in houses owned or controlled by the zoo and sought tickets for their family members to attend various entertainment events. End [00:12:00] of quote.

Caleb Newquist: This was potentially a problem because the Columbus Zoo is a nonprofit, as we mentioned earlier, and it receives taxpayer dollars through levies charged to the taxpayers of Franklin County. That's the largest county by population in Ohio. Those levies produced about $19 million a year for the zoo. That was about 20% of its total revenue in 2019. As I mentioned earlier, Tom Wolfe's in-laws had moved into one of the homes owned by the zoo, and in another [00:12:30] case, the daughter of the zoo's CFO, Greg Bell, was a tenant of a house also controlled by the zoo. The dispatches investigation found that neither home was, quote, advertised for rent or offered to outsiders or other zoo employees. End of quote. One board member approached by the dispatch for comment said, quote, this is not a good look for a nonprofit entity. And yeah, I would agree with that. It does not look good. Not only [00:13:00] was the Columbus Zoo a nonprofit, it was a nonprofit accepting taxpayer dollars as a part of its funding. In other words, the taxpayers of Franklin County were stakeholders in the zoo, whether they wanted to be or not, just like the zoo's donors were to make the optics only slightly worse. Staff and Bell drew significant compensation. Zoo tax documents showed that in 2019, staff earned $488,486 in total compensation, while Bell received $362,355 [00:13:30] in total compensation. When the dispatch approached Staff and Bell to get their side of the story.

Caleb Newquist: Staff explained that his father in law, quote, helped make improvements to the house so it could be flipped for a profit later on. A zoo spokesperson went on to say that, quote, the rates were established to be paid part in cash and part in service in exchange for below market rent. As for the CFO Greg Bell's story, he said his daughter was a roommate of [00:14:00] a zoo tenant. That's all he said. Now, maybe at first glance, these explanations are plausible, if absurdly convenient. But when the dispatch asked for copies of the lease agreements to verify the arrangements, zoo officials refused to make them available. They wouldn't even say what the family members were paying in rent. So that's weird. If everything is above board, why not just make all those details available? A zoo spokesman said that [00:14:30] the leases were proprietary and had confidential information concerning third parties. That was what? That's. That's why. But there was more. In the case of staff, he said that his in-laws using the house was, quote, a strategic decision because his father in law had managed rental properties in the past. And so that made him a, quote, good fit to maintain and make improvements to the home. Okay, so let's say we take that at face value. Let's even take his father [00:15:00] in law's age, which was 75 at the time the house was acquired in 2013. Let's take that at face value, too.

Caleb Newquist: Let's let's assume that Tom Stahl's father in law was he was a spry 75. Okay. When the dispatch reported the details of the improvements, $18,000 toward a new furnace, countertops and carpet. The spokeswoman for the zoo did not specify that any family members had personally carried out those projects, and also wouldn't provide details on what improvements Stauf's [00:15:30] in-laws were supposed to make. As for Greg Bell's daughter being roomies with a zoo tenant, the zoo did not answer questions about what she or the leaseholder were paying in rent, and whether they were responsible for any improvements to the property. Bell even said that it was unbeknownst to him that his daughter was even in touch with the tenants. Okay, what about the tickets to the various entertainment events? Lots of those tickets [00:16:00] were obtained through arrangements the Columbus Zoo had with the Columbus Blue Jackets, the NHL team and Ohio State University. This doesn't sound all that unusual. As I said earlier, all kinds of organizations invest in entertainment like this to schmooze and woo clients. Or in the case of a big name nonprofit like a zoo. Potential donors. The zoo's VP of Marketing and sales, a guy by the name of Pete Fingerhut, was authorized to distribute [00:16:30] tickets under the zoo's marketing strategy for entertaining donors. However, the dispatch obtained emails that showed a lot of tickets going to family members of staff and Bell everything from Les Miserables to Justin Timberlake to Fleetwood Mac.

Caleb Newquist: In one instance, an email forwarded by Greg Bell to a relative asking about interest in various shows was responded to with requests to seven concerts over four months in 2019. Zoo officials denied [00:17:00] any wrongdoing related to these tickets and claimed that their strategy had worked. It had resulted in securing over $1 million in sponsorships, sales, and donations. Furthermore, the zoo had received a written complaint about the personal use of Blue Jackets and Ohio State tickets in 2018. That zoo leaders had turned over to its audit committee. That committee asked an accounting firm to review the zoo's records and contracts around the use of the tickets, as well as the zoo's [00:17:30] credit card activity of over 40 senior staff. And that audit turned up nothing. It only offered suggestions for improvements. For the record keeping which the zoo says it implemented. But then in 2019, the use of tickets by zoo executives family members continued. In [00:18:00] response to the Dispatch's report, the zoo's board said it was launching an investigation into all the suspicious relatives using houses and fancy tickets to concert stuff. At first, it was going to be an internal review led by board members, but those board members soon recommended hiring an outside law firm, Porter, Wright, Morris and Arthur, and they wanted them to do the investigation because they felt like they could do it [00:18:30] most effectively. Almost simultaneously, the Ohio Ethics Commission announced that it would consider investigating the zoo as well.

Caleb Newquist: The report says that the commission investigates potential violations of state law related to the misuse and abuse of public offices, including conflicts of interest. And again, this is all because the Columbus Zoo receives levies from the citizens of Franklin County. Those levies are administered by an 18 member board that consists of appointees made by the zoo, [00:19:00] the Columbus City Council, and the Franklin County Commissioners. In other words, pretty much everybody is a stakeholder here. If they're covered by, you know, anyone that's covered by that? The zoo. Columbus, Franklin County, they're a stakeholder. Then on Monday, March 29th, less than two weeks after the board announced that it had hired Porter, Wright, Morris and Arthur, the firm shared their report with the zoo board. At that meeting, Staff and Bell both [00:19:30] voluntarily resigned. But perhaps more ominously, after a two hour executive Session. A motion was made to not extend any severance to Tom Stalf. The motion passed by a vote of 21 to 6. The day after Staufenbiel resigned, the zoo announced that it wouldn't be releasing the details of the investigation. Franklin County commissioners were not pleased by this. In [00:20:00] a statement, the commissioner said, quote, The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium is not only a world class attraction for our community, but also a community investment. It requires world class leadership, appropriate community oversight, transparency and that there be no hint of any impropriety in the management of the county taxpayers funds.

Caleb Newquist: But the zoo didn't care. The chairman of the Board of directors, Keith Shumate, issued his own statement saying, quote, we don't plan on sharing the details of the report, adding [00:20:30] that the board believed that the report to be confidential. This was emphasized again later by the zoo spokeswoman, who said there will be no written report or summary of findings from the meeting. But after an editorial from the dispatch and pressure from county and city officials, the board changed its mind a couple days later. In a statement, Chairman Keith Shumate said, quote, in consideration of the community's broad interest in the matter and calls from the Franklin County Commissioners and the city of Columbus for greater transparency, the zoo [00:21:00] will be providing preliminary written findings and recommendations to the public. On Tuesday, the county board of commissioners actually wanted things to go a bit further, calling for a forensic audit of the zoo, including the $19 million it received from Franklin County taxpayers. Enhanced financial safeguards, including strict segregation of all levy funds, and a review of the zoo's governance. It was at this time that the Ohio Attorney General's Office's Charitable [00:21:30] Law Section, which oversees nonprofits in Ohio. Io, it announced that it would be launching its own investigation just over a week later, and one month after the dispatch broke the story. Porter Wright's report was made public and it had more bad news.

Caleb Newquist: Porter Wright's report, dated April [00:22:00] 6th, 2021, accomplished two main things. First, it verified all the suspicious and potentially improper conduct that was uncovered by the Columbus Dispatch. And it uncovered a bunch of new, suspicious and potentially improper conduct that the Columbus Dispatch didn't know anything about. First, let's talk about the stuff we already knew. Relatives of staff and Bill were living in houses owned by the zoo, and they were getting cheap rent in exchange for making improvements to the property. Tom [00:22:30] staff's in-laws were paying $900 a month for a for a three bedroom, 1400 square foot house, Porter writes. Report found that between 18,000 and $28,000 were spent renovating the property at staff's discretion. Furthermore, staff said it was a coincidence that his in-laws had become available to live in the house while it was under renovation. Okay, and remember how he also said that allowing his in-laws to live there was a strategic decision because his father in law [00:23:00] had managed rental properties in the past, and that made him a good fit to make improvements. The report goes on to state, and this is wonderful. There are no contemporaneous records demonstrating that his in-laws committed to, or in fact, improved the property, although staff made a list of the improvements shortly before commencement of this investigation. In other words, there was nothing documented about his in-laws improving the property when they moved in. Tom Staff only [00:23:30] jotted all this down Once he knew somebody was going to be asking him questions about it. As for Greg Bell, he had rented the other zoo property in question to the college friend of his daughter.

Caleb Newquist: His daughter then became a tenant and planned to take over the lease. Then there were the tickets. As I said, the dispatches reporting was verified. Dolphin Bell both procured tickets to sporting and entertainment events for their family members at the zoo's expense, and there were no records of those costs being reimbursed. [00:24:00] In one instance, Greg Bell admitted that he obtained 60 Columbus Blue Jackets tickets for his son so he could go to games with his friends. One fact that makes this slightly worse was that his son was also a contractor for the zoo. So all that is, you know, as the report says, potentially improper. And we, you know, more or less knew that. So what? What didn't we know that this report found out? Well, there are a few things. First, one [00:24:30] issue is that Tom Stalf awarded a $2 million contract for the construction of cabins and a meeting space at The Wilds. Now, the Wilds is a 10,000 acre conservation center and safari park that's operated by the zoo in southeastern Ohio. He did this, that is, he awarded this contract without competitive bidding. The payment and accounting for this unbuilt contract did not go through the normal protocols, but was directed by Stalf through Greg Bell. [00:25:00] The icing on the cake was when the construction company billed the zoo for a big cost overrun. Stalf told Bell to pay the overrun, quote, despite objections by Zoo and Wilds management.

Caleb Newquist: Second thing we learned Stalf also directed the purchase of a $45,000 recreational vehicle for his exclusive use. That's nice. Yeah. An RV? Why? Why? Oh why would he [00:25:30] need a $45,000 RV? He said so that he, quote, would have a place to stay when he attended events at the wilds. The investigation only found one instance where he actually used the RV at the wilds, and he even admitted using it for a personal trip to put in Bay, Ohio. And that's a resort town on an island in Lake Erie. He did not reimburse the zoo for this use. Finally, the [00:26:00] zoo traded tickets to a water park. It operates for country club memberships. That pretty much only staff and Belle used. Porter Wright made a number of recommendations, including reviewing its various policies for competitive bidding, the use of rental properties ethics, and suggested a forensic audit to find out just how much Dolphin Belle should reimburse the zoo. In mid-August 2021, about five months after the story broke, a forensic [00:26:30] audit of the zoo was released by the accounting firm Plante Moran. And what do you know? There was more bad news. The report said that $631,000 had been misspent by zoo executives. The vast majority by Tom Stalf and Greg Bell, around $562,000. Pete Fingerhut, the VP of marketing and a purchasing director. Tracy Murnane accounted for the rest around $70,000. Plante Moran specified [00:27:00] that this 631,000 was what they could verify. And there were probably other losses that they couldn't substantiate or quantify. Overall, the firm described a, quote, culture of entitlement among the zoo's executives who had a, quote, cavalier attitude toward events.

Caleb Newquist: This made it pretty much impossible to determine the amounts paid for specific events and figure out the actual losses. They further reported that there were often modified descriptions to [00:27:30] give the illusion. That an activity related to zoo expenses. The forensic audit could not confirm any quid pro quo that took place between. Staff and the construction company, but they did say that that no bid contract did raise a question of self-dealing by the CEO. And the characteristics involved in this transaction were highly suspicious. It's all pretty cringe worthy stuff. But [00:28:00] don't worry, it gets worse. In the fall of 2021, the zoo lost its accreditation from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums due to all of this unseemly stuff. And we haven't even mentioned the fact that a documentary film called The Conservation Game had been released and raised questions about former zoo director Jack Hanna's involvement with some Unaccredited facilities to provide animals for his various TV appearances. [00:28:30] Now, that particular issue is out of scope for the purposes of our little show. But yeah, that was going on to the one. One bright spot during this time was that the zoo had appointed a new CEO, a veteran zoo executive named Tom Schmid, who promised to restore Columbus Zoo's credibility and rebuild the trust of the community. Things for the old zoo executives, though, were not looking as good. In [00:29:00] early 2022. Both Tom Stalf and Greg Bell repaid the zoo for the misspent zoo funds.

Caleb Newquist: Staff's attorney said that the Columbus Zoo wanted to make his client a scapegoat, and that he had paid back the money so he could move on. Fast forward to the fall of 2023 [00:29:30] and unfortunately for Stone and Bell, they couldn't move on. In September, the Ohio Attorney General announced indictments of Tom Stalf, Greg Bell, and Pete Fingerhut. There were a total of 90 counts, including multiple counts of theft, bribery and even engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, which is also known as Rico Charge. Yes, that Rico, Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations. All told, the [00:30:00] three were accused of causing the zoo to lose $2.2 million, or the equivalent of 16,000 zoo memberships. As with the release of the portrait and Plante Moran reports, the indictment brought even greater detail of the spending by zoo executives. Those details included four For tickets to Les Misérables in 2013, valued at over $1,100. 72 Columbus Crew tickets [00:30:30] in 2016 valued at over $4,500. That is the MLS team in Columbus. Two tickets to the 2016 World Series valued at nearly 3000 bucks. That was that was the year the Cubs won. So that was kind of good. Um, and if I'm not mistaken, it turned out to be game six, which was an important game. Um, so those are good tickets. Uh, four tickets to a Jay-Z concert in 2018 valued at $852. I have to say, I wonder if Jay-Z, if he knew [00:31:00] just how little his tickets were going for compared to some of this other stuff, if that would, you know.

Caleb Newquist: Hurt his feelings? I don't know. Anyway, uh, three tickets to Hamilton in 2019 valued at almost $3,200. So yeah. Hamilton extremely hot. Jay-z. Not as hot as maybe he once was. At least at that time, I don't know. Anyway, other stuff a condo in Naples, Florida. Two hybrid bikes for over a thousand bucks. At [00:31:30] least four watches. Nearly 2000 bucks. Uh, limousine services for 2000 bucks. Motorized scooters for 4000. I don't know how. Scooters. I don't know, maybe I don't know. Scooters are more than limousines. I don't know. This is so weird. And of course, plenty of golf outings. Also, there was over $2,300 spent on something called Omaha man caves, which consisted of hundreds of products to help make a home entertainment room look exactly as you always [00:32:00] wished it could, at an affordable price. The guilty pleas started coming in October 2023 when Greg Bell, the former CFO, pleaded guilty to all 14 counts he faced, including aggravated theft, conspiracy and tampering with records. He was sentenced to three years in prison in August 2024. In order to pay [00:32:30] over $580,000 in restitution, Pete Fingerhut, the VP of marketing and the purchasing director, Tracy Murnane, both pleaded guilty in July 2024. Fingerhut was sentenced to five years in prison in order to pay restitution of over $600,000. The special prosecutor in the case called him, quote, the most egregious, obnoxious, and cavalier of all the defendants. So that's a I guess that was why he got five years [00:33:00] anyway.

Caleb Newquist: Murnane received a sentence of 60 days in jail and three years probation, along with $5,000 fine. A fifth defendant, Greg Bell's son Grant, was charged in July 2024 with one count of theft. He pleaded guilty in September 2024 and was sentenced to 40 hours of community service and two years of community control, along with 8500 in restitution and some audit costs and a $1,000 fine. So it [00:33:30] could have been worse, obviously. Anyway, Tom Stalf pleaded guilty to 15 felonies, one count each of aggravated theft, conspiracy and telecommunications fraud, and 12 counts of tampering with records. He was ordered to pay over $315,000 in restitution and sentenced to seven years in prison in October 2024. Okay, [00:34:00] so what did we learn? Did we learn anything? Greg's not here, so I have to do this now. And that's, you know, he's better at this than me. But anyway, I think one of the things we learned is that if you work for a for a nonprofit and that nonprofit receives money from a levy specifically for your organization, then you shouldn't expect anyone to be cool when you're a little cavalier with [00:34:30] things like giving tickets to sought after sporting events to your family members. Also, if you're thinking of letting, say, your in-laws stay in a house that is owned by your organization and you're cutting them a break on the rent, check with somebody first. We've talked about this many times on the podcast, but transparency is about as close to a silver bullet as you're going to get when it comes to fraud prevention.

Caleb Newquist: So like I said, if you're wondering whether something you're about to do [00:35:00] is a conflict of interest, don't keep it to yourself. Definitely tell someone about what you're thinking. And I suppose the same can be said for bidding contracts. If you're going to award a contract but you're not putting it out to bid, you better be sure that's okay. Especially if that contract is number one worth a lot like, say, a couple million bucks. And number two, your policies say that contracts require bids. Like that's kind of, you [00:35:30] know, just double check. Okay. Two more things that I think this case underscores. First, local journalism matters and makes a difference. Uh, this has come up a little bit, you know, over in a few episodes, but, uh, this The Columbus Dispatch, much like the LA times and the Bell California case, uh, the dispatch broke this story. And after that, one thing led to another that led to another that led to another. Each revelation worse than the last. So [00:36:00] support your local journalistic organizations. They may be the only ones in your area that actually care about holding people accountable. Two. Uh, while you definitely get the sense from this story that Tom Stalf and the rest of his merry band of Zoom Spendthrifts were entitled and careless and dishonest. It doesn't take much of an imagination to wonder whether these guys were also kind of caught up in the excitement of the thing, you know, running a zoo and having cool [00:36:30] perks and wanting to share those perks with people close to them so they can be, you know, big shots or whatever.

Caleb Newquist: That's obviously not a legitimate defense. Three of these guys are sitting in jail, but I can understand how that would happen. You know, it has to feel good to be able to say to someone, do you want to go to a concert or taking your friends to a World Series game and think, oh, who's going to know? And just keep doing things like that? Um, I can I can understand how [00:37:00] that would happen. It's not that it's not that much of a stretch, but if someone gets wind of it, it's not going to go well for you. Just like it didn't go well for these guys. Okay, that's it for this episode. And remember, if you do your in-laws a big favor and they aren't immediately skeptical, then maybe examine [00:37:30] your motives. If you have questions, comments, or suggestions for stories, drop me a line at my fraud at. Com or hit me up on LinkedIn on my fraud is created, written, produced and hosted by me. Caleb Newquist. The one and only Zach Frank is my co-producer, audio engineer, and music supervisor and whatever else I'm not mentioning. He does a lot. Rate review and subscribe to the show wherever you listen to podcasts. If you listen on earmark, you can earn free CPE there. Join us next time for more swindlers [00:38:00] and scams from stories that will make you say oh my fraud!