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First recorded activity by BoatBanter: Mar 2007
Posts: 501
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Tall Ships Ripped Off Big Time
that *******! he should swing from the highest yardarm.
SBV
"CJB" wrote in message
ups.com...
No wonder tall ships are short of money. CJB.
clive beasley wrote:
Date: Tue, 05 Jun 2007 08:17:49 -0400
From: clive beasley
OHHHHH MAN, we had booked the Wendler express, see below
another
potential rogues hall of famer:
John S. Carter, of Osterville, defrauded the Independence
Seaport
Museum in Philadelphia of $1.5 million.AP
By PATRICK WALTERS
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
June 05, 2007
PHILADELPHIA - The former director of the Independence
Seaport Museum
pleaded guilty yesterday to charges that he defrauded the
institution
out of $1.5 million and used the money to fund a lavish
lifestyle.
John S. Carter, 57, of Osterville submitted false invoices
to get the
maritime museum to pay for home improvements, artwork,
jewelry,
electronics and even a root canal, among other personal
expenditures,
federal authorities said.
Ill-gotten gains
John S. Carter allegedly spent museum funds on:
* A carriage house and other improvements to his Cape
Cod property
* A wooden eagle
* A 19th-century narwhal tusk
* Artwork
* Jewelry
* Electronics
* A root canal
He pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge R. Barclay
Surrick to two
counts of mail fraud and one count of tax evasion.
Museum officials remain confounded over what led Carter to
use the
institution as his personal piggy bank, although some
wondered if he
simply spent too much time with people who had lots of
money and owned
beautiful yachts.
"Obviously, his appetite was greater than his means," said
Peter
McCausland, chairman of the museum's board. "During the
last few
years, he was more irritable than he was earlier."
Carter served as museum president for 17 years before
being fired last
year. The museum, located along the Delaware River
waterfront, owns
the Spanish-American War cruiser USS Olympia and the World
War II-era
submarine USS Becuna.
In a lawsuit filed against Carter in Massachusetts in
January, museum
officials accused him of defrauding the institution of
$2.4 million.
Museum officials say the misuse of funds dated back to
1997.
Prosecutors said Carter spent more than $335,000 in museum
funds to
build a carriage house next to his Cape Cod home and make
other
property improvements. He also used about $50,000 in
museum funds to
buy a wooden eagle that once decorated an old riverboat
and a 19th-
century narwhal tusk, authorities said.
Carter's attorney called his client a "decent and
honorable citizen"
and said he did not understand what led him to break the
law.
"He wants to get this episode behind him," lawyer Mark
Cedrone said.
"Why he engaged in this conduct is a little befuddling."
Assistant U.S. Attorney John Pease said prosecutors will
argue at
Carter's sentencing Sept. 4 that he should face between
seven and nine
years in prison. Pease noted Carter tried to get another
$1.1 million
when he forged the signatures of two museum board members
to get a
life insurance policy.
"Even though he never got the (insurance) money, it was
still a
crime," Pease said. "We're going to be fighting hard over
that."
Cedrone said his client did forge the names, but that he
was trying to
get something he actually could have gotten legally.
As part of the plea agreement, Carter also was ordered to
pay
restitution.
Meanwhile, the museum is trying to get back on course by
bringing back
donors and attempting to increase its endowment.
McCausland said he
hopes to hire a new president by the end of the summer.
"We're taking steps to right the ship, if you will," he
said.
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