COLUMBUS — Three former executives of the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium were indicted Sept. 18 for their roles in a scheme to defraud the zoo of more than $2.29 million and use the money for personal benefits, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost announced.
Former Chief Executive Officer Tom Stalf and former Marketing Director Pete Fingerhut are accused of operating a criminal enterprise to hijack the zoo’s purse strings and colluding to conceal their thievery, according to a release from the attorney general’s office. Also indicted in the case was former Chief Financial Officer Greg Bell.
The indictment alleges that the former executives manipulated credit card and check authorization forms for more than a decade, using the nonprofit’s public funds for personal use. The Columbus Zoo receives about $19 million in taxes annually from Franklin County residents.
According to the attorney general’s office, the stolen money was spent on lavish non-zoo-related items, including suites and tickets to concerts and sporting events; golf memberships; trips to multiple states and foreign countries; meals, alcohol; and motor vehicles.
An investigation by the state found that the trio also bartered, bribed and extorted zoo vendors for goods and services. In one instance, zoo tickets were exchanged for tickets to Game 6 of the 2016 World Series. On another occasion, Fingerhut is accused of threatening harm to a vendor’s business opportunities with the zoo unless he was paid large sums of cash.
Stalf, Fingerhut and Bell allegedly attempted to conceal their criminal activities by knowingly signing financial authorization forms. In subsequent years, Stalf and Fingerhut filed their state and federal taxes without acknowledging the financial benefits obtained from the criminal enterprise.
The conduct alleged in the indictments happened between 2011 and 2021. Stalf and Fingerhut were indicted on multiple felony charges, including including corruption, aggravated theft, bribery, conspiracy, money laundering and tampering with records. Bell was indicted on several felony charges, including theft, conspiracy and records tampering. The indictment was filed in Delaware County Common Pleas Court.
Stalf and Bell resigned from the zoo in March 2021 after an internal investigation focusing on their personal use of zoo assets. Both allegedly received improper benefits, according to reporting by The Columbus Dispatch. Fingerhut had been let go earlier by the zoo as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
