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The lead prosecutor within the felony felony case towards former Columbus Zoo and Aquarium CEO Tom Stalf says the previous govt’s present employer, a significant zoo sponsor and donor, has paid the $400,000 Stalf owed in restitution to the zoo.
Stalf, whom prosecutors take into account the ringleader within the scandal spanning from 2011 to 2021, if solely as a result of he oversaw all zoo operations, presently works for Germain Honda of Dublin. He faces 36 of the 90 fees introduced towards 4 defendants in an indictment filed in September He’s scheduled for trial on Aug. 6.
“My consumer works for Germain and does an excellent job for them,” mentioned Mark Collins, Stalf’s lawyer, who declined to debate his consumer’s restitution association.
In 2022, Rex Elliott, Stalf’s lawyer on the time, mentioned a $400,000 settlement with the zoo was “a excessive worth to pay” and that zoo officials made his client a scapegoat for misspending about which he mentioned they already knew.
“Mr. Stalf solely agreed to settle this now and pay cash he doesn’t owe out of concern for his household and to maneuver ahead together with his life,” Elliott mentioned on the time.
When the felony indictment got here in September, Stalf was a brand new automotive supervisor on the Germain dealership on Sawmill Street in Dublin. A smiling Stalf, in a blue vest and shirt, posed in an image bearing the Honda brand final 12 months.
The {photograph} has since been eliminated. An worker mentioned that Stalf now works as a purchaser for the corporate. The worker relayed a message from The Dispatch for an interview, which Stalf did not return.
Senior Assistant Lawyer Basic Dan Kasaris, who leads the prosecution of the theft case, on Monday praised Tracy Murnane, the zoo’s former director of purchasing and the third former zoo official to plead responsible to felony fees. The others are former zoo advertising director Peter Fingerhut and former Chief Monetary Officer Greg Bell, every of whom has agreed to cooperate within the zoo investigation.
Of the 4 defendants, solely Stalf has not entered a plea and even appeared in court docket, in accordance with court docket data.
Murnane “got here up with $90,000 himself, not like Tom Stalf,” an worker of Germain Motors, which has paid Stalf’s payments for him, Kasaris mentioned.
Germain paid $400,000 on Stalf’s behalf, Kasaris mentioned Monday after Murnane’s plea hearing. He declined to elaborate.
Following a forensic audit in 2021 by accounting agency Plante Moran, “it was determined that Stalf owed $400,000 — an quantity that was paid by Germain Motors,” in accordance with a spokesperson for the Ohio Lawyer Basic’s workplace.
Bell’s lawyer, Sam Shamansky, referred to as Stalf’s ongoing relationship to the dealership following his indictment and its fee of Stalf’s authorized bills “past bizarre.”
Tom Schmid, present zoo CEO and Stalf’s successor, referred to as Germain a longtime and main sponsor over time. Sponsors pay the zoo in change for naming rights to occasions and different publicity.
“However their most up-to-date sponsorship expired on the finish of final 12 months, they usually determined to not renew it,” Schmid mentioned.
Schmid referred different inquiries to a zoo spokesperson, who, after checking with zoo authorized counsel mentioned the zoo was “unable to remark or present any additional info because of the lively nature of the felony case.”
Neither Stalf nor officers of Germain Motor Co. returned calls this week from The Dispatch. In an electronic mail, Germain lawyer Brad Koffel mentioned the corporate “doesn’t touch upon issues pertaining to prospects, companions or associates.”
Stalf’s trial is scheduled for Aug. 6 in Delaware County Widespread Pleas Court docket.
dnarciso@dispatch.com
This text initially appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Germain paid $400K in restitution for former Columbus Zoo CEO
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