"Montana airport director accused of stealing had trust from the beginning"

Sunday, January 16, 2005

Airport director accused of stealing had trust from the beginning
By COLIN McDONALD
The Missoulian (MT)


Missoula Airport Authority commissioner Bruno Friia remembers the night in
1999 when the board decided to hire John Seymour as airport director.

Seymour was the ideal candidate, Friia said. He began working at the airport
in 1984 in operations, mowing the lawn in the summer and driving the
snowplow in winter. Over the years, he had worked his way up the ranks and
even served as interim director in 1997.

What Friia remembers most about that night, though, is the comment someone
made at the conclusion of the meeting: "If nothing else, John's
trustworthy." 
 
On Jan. 8 of this year, Seymour signed a letter before his lawyer and a
notary public for delivery to the Airport Authority board. "I am submitting
my resignation," he wrote, "because of the misappropriation of $645,153.87
while in the employment of the Airport Authority."

Last Monday, Seymour was charged in Missoula District Court with four counts
of felony theft, one count of misdemeanor theft and four counts of official
misconduct. He could face as many as 40 years in the Montana State Prison.

He will appear in court to hear the charges against him, and to enter a
plea, on Jan. 24. Both Seymour and his attorney, Milton Datsopoulos,
declined opportunities to be interviewed for this story.

By many measures, Seymour's tenure as airport director was a successful one,
said Joe Easton, a former Airport Authority board member who is now serving
as the airport's interim director. Under Seymour's guidance, the airport
grew, built its financial reserves and started three expansion projects.

"Despite John's indiscretions and poor decisions, he was a good airport
director," Easton said. "That is not to say we are not disgusted and want to
see justice."

Larry Larsen, a private investigator and forensic accountant hired to
investigate Seymour's actions, said the Airport Authority's initial trust in
Seymour and the complexity of the airport's operation helped to mask the
alleged crimes for nearly four years.

"Any time you have a person in that high-level position they have the
ability to circumvent," said Larsen. "If the guy at the top is crooked, he
can usually get away with it for a while."

According to documents filed in District Court by Missoula County Attorney
Fred Van Valkenburg, Seymour has given a statement to sheriff's detective
Pat Estill admitting to the theft of three checks from the airport totaling
$645,153.87 and to buying a Miller Bluestar combination generator/welder
with airport funds.

The alleged deception began almost immediately after Seymour was named
director.

On Dec. 3, 1999, Seymour bought the generator/welder for his ranch and
masked the $2,313.70 debit by adding it to the cost of a parking-lot
expansion, the affidavit said.

Later, between November 2003 and January 2004, Seymour deposited $645,153.87
of airport money, which was being held in an escrow account to pay for land
purchases, into a personal account, the affidavit said.

"The money was never in the airport's bank account, and because of that it
did not go through the airport's normal checks and balances," Larsen said.

Until the board was informed of the financial irregularities on Nov. 15,
2004, everything was believed to be fine. At the time of his suspension, and
then resignation, Seymour's annual salary was $123,000.

"It was not like we were completely asleep at the wheel," said Cliff Larsen,
chairman of the airport board. (Cliff Larsen is not related to investigator
Larry Larsen.)

It was not the role of the board to micromanage the airport staff, said
Cliff Larsen. Members of the volunteer board are expected to make decisions
about the airport and its operations based on information provided by the
staff, not to gather information on their own.

That's why, in December of 2000, board members accepted Seymour's
recommendation that they buy 24 acres of land for $603,544. The price seemed
high, Larsen said, and was questioned by the board.

But Seymour convinced them that the property was indeed worth the money.
Only recently did the Airport Authority learn that the highest appraised
value of the land was actually $357,544 less than the price they paid.

(According to court documents, Seymour later accepted $60,000 from the
property's owners, allegedly for the purchase of 20 bison cows. However, the
men never took possession of the livestock.)

"This is not an institution-wide problem," Easton said last week. "It was
located just with the director. The lesson is the board needs to be involved
in all of the transactions."

Seymour's actions came to the attention of the Airport Authority on Nov. 15.
Teri O'Leary, the fiscal manager under Seymour, was reviewing the airport's
books and found the money missing from the escrow account.

When Seymour could not produce adequate paperwork showing the money's
whereabouts, O'Leary was in the difficult position of having to investigate
her own boss, Easton said.

Fortunately, Easton said, O'Leary acted quickly, contacting the airport's
lawyer and bringing the inconsistencies to light. The Missoulian attempted
to contact O'Leary for this story, but was told that Easton is answering all
inquiries of airport staff.

Easton dismissed as a coincidence the fact that Seymour is the fourth
airport director to leave the position under less than honorable
circumstances in recent years.

In 1991, director Russell Pankey was fired and later pleaded guilty to two
misdemeanor counts of official misconduct. He was sentenced to a year in
jail.

In 1996, Pankey's replacement resigned amid allegations of harassment and
discrimination. Seymour filled in as interim director until Peter Van Pelt
was hired.

Van Pelt resigned in June 1999 amid concerns about his ability and
willingness to do the job.

In his report on the case, investigator Larry Larsen made several
recommendations about how the Airport Authority could restructure to avoid
similar problems in the future. Among those is a suggestion that the fiscal
manager report directly to the board, rather than to the airport director.

Larsen also recommended more communication between lower and upper
management as a means of identifying problems earlier. Cliff Larsen said the
authority will begin implementing the changes at its next meeting.

Easton noted that the airport continued running smoothly after the
wrongdoing was revealed. Despite being angry and disappointed at Seymour,
airport employees were able to do their jobs, Easton said: "That was very
difficult. I've been encouraged because of the employees."

It was commendable the problems were caught internally, Larry Larsen said,
and that most - if not all - of the money will be returned. Already, Seymour
has paid $628,602.97 in restitution to the Missoula Airport Authority.

Seymour used the money he took from the airport as loans to friends and
relatives, and to buy property, according to court documents. It is known
that Seymour made a $45,000 loan to his nephew, Craig Hardy; a $180,000 loan
to B.J. Lefler and Patti Lefler; bought a $185,130 commercial lot from
Missoula Saws Inc.; and bought a duplex at 527-529 E. Front St. in Missoula
for $148,000.

Once accused, Seymour sold the property and called in the loans.

Seymour "was fairly liquid," Larry Larsen said. "He did not blow it on women
and song. There is no loss of airport money and the public is not out any
money."

Friia describes the whole incident as an "ideal bad situation."

"It was very sobering," said Cliff Larsen. "You trust people and people
misuse your trust."


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