Columbus Zoo being investigated
By JULIE CARR SMYTH - Associated Press
Jack Hanna, Director Emeritus of the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, right, Betty White, actress and longtime animal advocate, center, and Tom Stalf, then President and CEO of Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, left, are shown at the grand opening May 22, 2014, of the Heart of Africa exhibit at the Columbus Zoo & Aquarium. Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost placed the zoo under investigation Thursday after a newspaper reported misuse of assets by two top executives who later resigned.
COLUMBUS Ohio’s top law enforcer placed one of the nation’s largest zoos under investigation Thursday after a newspaper reported misuse of assets by two top executives who later resigned.
The Associated Press
This file photo from May 22, 2014, shows Jack Hanna, Director Emeritus of the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, right, Betty White, actress and longtime animal advocate, center, and Tom Stalf, then President and CEO of Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, left, at the grand opening of the Heart of Africa exhibit at the Columbus Zoo & Aquarium. Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost placed the zoo under investigation Thursday, April 1, 2021 after a newspaper reported misuse of assets by two top executives who later resigned. (Jonathan Quilter/The Columbus Dispatch via AP, File)
COLUMBUS Ohio’s top law enforcer placed one of the nation’s largest zoos under investigation Thursday after a newspaper reported misuse of assets by two top executives who later resigned.
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Credit Columbus Zoo And Aquarium
Ohio’s top law enforcer placed one of the nation’s largest zoos under investigation Thursday after a newspaper reported misuse of assets by two top executives who later resigned.
Republican Attorney General Dave Yost placed his office’s Charitable Law Section in charge of the probe targeting the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, a 501(c)3 nonprofit located in the Columbus suburb of Powell. Its animal population is ranked second largest among U.S. zoos.
An email to the zoo seeking comment was not immediately returned.
Yost’s action was prompted by a Columbus Dispatch investigation that uncovered apparent improprieties by Tom Stalf, then president and CEO, and Greg Bell, then chief financial officer. The newspaper reported that Stalf, 52, and Bell, 61, allowed relatives to live in houses owned or controlled by the zoo and sought tickets for family members to zoo entertainment events.