Former Charity Official Returns $100,000

A former chairman of the J. Paul Getty Trust, David Gardner, has returned almost $100,000 of the $178,000 he was paid to write a commemorative history of the trust after an internal investigation determined the book deal violated tax laws, reports the Los Angeles Times.

In 2004 Mr. Gardner had pushed successfully for a five-year employment contract for Barry Munitz, who was then serving as chief executive, and months later Mr. Munitz gave Mr. Gardner the $300,000 book deal.

The Getty Trust concluded that the arrangement violated tax rules against self-dealing and overcompensation. Mr. Munitz resigned this year amid controversy over his pay and other issues.

Mr. Gardner is keeping the remaining $78,000, for research he completed over a 19-month period, though he did no writing and conducted no interviews. Neither Mr. Gardner nor Mr. Munitz commented on the decision to return the money.