COLUMBUS, Ohio — A fourth former Columbus Zoo employee has been charged with felonies including grand theft, forgery and telecommunications fraud.

What You Need To Know

  • A fourth former Columbus Zoo employee has been charged with felonies including grand theft, forgery and telecommunications fraud

  • Tracy Murnane, 65, was a purchasing agent for the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, according to a press release from Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost

  • This comes after an indictment in September that saw three executives at the zoo “accused of stealing more than $2.29 million in public funds for their own benefit"

  • According to the release, those cases are ongoing

Tracy Murnane, 65, was a purchasing agent for the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, according to a press release from Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost. In addition to two unclassified misdemeanors, he was specifically charged with the following:

  • One count of grand theft (F4)
  • One count of complicity in the commission of an offense (F4)
  • Two counts of forgery (F4)
  • One count of telecommunications fraud (F5)
  • One count of filing incomplete, false and fraudulent tax returns (F5)

“According to the bill of information, Murnane, while working as a zoo purchaser, sold services from his family’s business to the zoo, sold personal cars using a straw seller and aided another defendant, former CEO Tom Stalf, in using zoo funds to buy a vehicle for Stalf’s personal use,” the release reads. “Murnane is also accused of using a zoo vendor barter system to book a party bus for a family member’s wedding and filing tax returns for 2019 without accounting for his fraudulent gains.”

This comes after an indictment in September that saw three executives at the zoo “accused of stealing more than $2.29 million in public funds for their own benefit.”

According to the release, those cases are ongoing.

The zoo’s former marketing director, Pete Fingerhut, has been indicted on 62 felony charges and is set to begin trial on Juy 9. The trial for Stalf, who is facing 36 felony charges, is set for Aug. 6. Finally, former Chief Financial Officer Greg Bell pled guilty to 14 felony charges and will be sentences at the conclusion of the other cases.

“Separately, the attorney general’s Charitable Law Section provided notice this week that it has completed, and will close, its regulatory investigation into the zoo itself and its Board,” the release concludes.

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