Former Republican Party of Florida chairman Jim Greer agreed earlier this year to pay back $7,337 in inappropriate expenses to the party. But, according to the results of an audit released by the party, the check bounced.
According to the audit, Greer’s lawyer claimed in May that Greer had sent a check for the amount to the party. The check came a month later, and it bounced — perhaps, as the audit notes, because his accounts have been frozen in connection with his federal fraud charges.
RPOF commissioned the audit from Alston & Bird LLP in the wake of spending scandals, stemming from reports of excessive spending by party leaders and eventually culminating in criminal charges against Greer, for allegedly creating a shell company to skim tens of thousands from the party.
Greer apparently told the auditors he felt it was fair to take party money — 10% of all fundraising and tens of thousands in additional consulting fees — through his company, Victory Strategies, because he was doing more work.
Greer said he and his executive director, Delmar Johnson, “would have to increase their responsibilities because fundraising apparently was beyond the scope of their positions. This extra work, we learned, was the reason Greer believed it was fair to receive through Victory Strategies a share of the funds raised by the RPOF.”
But, the auditors say, there was no evidence that Greer or Johnson did fundraising “that differed in any meaningful way” from what the two, as the chair and exec director of the party, had been doing before setting up Victory Strategies.
The audit, released Friday, focuses mostly on Greer and Gov. Charlie Crist (they both say the audit was politically motivated), but also has details about the way the party works. Some highlights:
Between 2007 and 2009, party officials expensed a whopping $381,786 in charges not related to party business. The auditors found another $98,000 that was “probably” not related to party business. Of that, less than $5,000 has been paid back.
Greer and Gov. Charlie Crist took a $13,000 trip to Disney World with their families in June 2009, according to the audit. Crist, who is no longer with the party, called the audit a “sham” and showed what he said was a personal receipt proving he paid for the trip himself.
Greer was also reimbursed about $2,000 for a trip to a New York City event called “Artrageous” that his wife was involved in. He expensed more than $5,600 to a vendor called “Write Ideas” for charges related to his son’s baptism.
Greer agreed to repay the party almost $2,500 for concert tickets and transportation to see Journey perform.
Greer bought a private plane, leased it to a local charter company called Baer Air, then arranged to direct RPOF business toward the company, to the tune of about $75,000. The money RPOF paid counted toward personal debt Greer owed Baer for fixing up his plane.
There was almost no financial oversight at RPOF. The party’s Audit Committee did not have contact with the accounting department, only met once a year and “did not engage in a substantive review of the financial statements.” The treasurer and assistant treasurer “also did not provide effective financial oversight.” Many charges — including the payments to Greer’s allegedly fraudulent “Victory Strategies” firm — were approved by Greer himself. When accountants and other officials brought up the party’s spending, they were often rebuked by Greer or his right-hand man, Delmar Johnson, according to the audit.
Read the full audit here:
