Additional defendant charged in $2.3M Ohio Zoo fraud investigation

COLUMBUS, Ohio — A former Columbus Zoo and Aquarium purchasing agent was charged this morning with grand theft and five other felonies, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost announced.

According to officials, Tracy Murnane, 65, of Westerville, is the fourth former Columbus Zoo employee criminally charged with felony theft-related offenses as part of an ongoing criminal prosecution led by the attorney general’s Special Prosecution section.

The attorney general’s office was appointed to prosecute the case at the request of Delaware County Prosecutor Melissa Schiffel. The Ohio Auditor’s Office is assisting in the investigation and prosecution.

Murnane was charged with:

• One count of grand theft (F4).
• One count of complicity in the commission of an offense (F4).
• Two counts of forgery (F4).
• One count of telecommunications fraud (F5).
• One count of filing incomplete, false, and fraudulent tax returns (F5).

Officials say Murnane was also charged with two unclassified misdemeanors related to the purchase of motor vehicles without titles.

The charges are contained in a bill of information filed in Delaware County Common Pleas Court. A bill of information is a formal accusation of a crime issued by a prosecutor and presented to a defendant; it serves the same function as an indictment issued by a grand jury in felony cases.

According to the bill of information , Murnane, while working as a zoo purchaser, sold services from his family’s business to the zoo, sold personal cars using a straw seller, and aided another defendant, former CEO Tom Stalf, in using zoo funds to buy a vehicle for Stalf’s personal use.

Officials say Murnane is also accused of using a zoo vendor barter system to book a party bus for a family member’s wedding and filing tax returns for 2019 without accounting for his fraudulent gains.

According to officials the charges against Murnane follow the indictment in September of three former Columbus Zoo executives accused of stealing more than $2.29 million in public funds for their own benefit.

Their cases are ongoing:

• A trial for Pete Fingerhut, the zoo’s former marketing director, is scheduled to begin on July 9. Fingerhut was indicted on 62 felony charges and one misdemeanor count.
• A trial for Tom Stalf, former chief executive officer, is set to begin on Aug. 6. He faces 36 felony charges.
• Greg Bell, former chief financial officer, pleaded guilty to felony charges on Oct. 19 to 14, including aggravated theft, conspiracy, and tampering with records. Bell will be sentenced after his co-defendant’s cases conclude.

(Video in the story shows the top stories for Thursday, May 23, 2024)

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