Former Museum President Charged With Fraud
May 22, 2007 | Read Time: 1 minute
Federal prosecutors have charged John S. Carter, the former president of the Independence Seaport Museum, in Philadelphia, with bilking the institution of more than $1-million from 1997 to 2006, reports The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Mr. Carter is charged with two counts of fraud and one count of tax evasion. He is expected to plead guilty, the newspaper said. Mr. Carter may face at least five years in prison, said Assistant U.S. Attorney John J. Pease.
Mr. Carter, who received a salary of about $300,000 a year and lived rent-free in a museum-owned townhouse, allegedly used the museum’s money to have a $210,000 carriage house built on Cape Cod, and to buy a $275,000 power boat, a $100,000 wooden sailboat, a $6,900 tiger-maple bed, and other objects itemized in a government document that exceeds 50 pages.
A pending civil suit against Mr. Carter gave the museum good odds of recovering much of its money, said Peter McCausland, chairman of the museum’s board.
“The lesson here is that volunteers on nonprofit boards need to understand that things can go bad just like they can in a for-profit business,” said Mr. McCausland.
