For an earlier report on this story view the video player above.
Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to clarify the charges against Tracy Murnane.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – A former Columbus Zoo official has become the fourth charged after a group of executives was accused of stealing $2.3 million.
Tracy Murnane, 65, of Westerville, is the fourth former Columbus Zoo employee criminally charged with theft and fraud offenses as part of an ongoing criminal prosecution led by the attorney general’s special prosecution section.
Murnane, a former purchasing agent for the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, was charged with six total felonies, including grand theft, telecommunications fraud, complicity in the commission of an offense, filing incomplete, false and fraudulent tax returns and two counts of forgery.
The charges are contained in a bill of information filed in Delaware County Common Pleas Court. A bill of information is a formal accusation of a crime issued by a prosecutor and presented to a defendant; it serves the same function as an indictment issued by a grand jury in felony cases. While the charges don’t directly tie Murnane to the $2.29 million theft, they do accuse him in a number of related incidents:
- A grand theft charge combines several actions worth between $7,500 and $150,000: selling cars to the zoo with a straw seller, using the zoo barter system for personal purchases and attending events at Nationwide Arena and the Schottenstein Center with tickets the zoo paid for
- While working as a zoo purchaser, selling services from his family’s business to the zoo
- Aiding another defendant, former CEO Tom Stalf, in using $45,000 in zoo funds to buy a car for Stalf’s personal use
- Purchasing vehicles without obtaining a certificate of title, including four Corvettes, years 2001, 2000, 1996 and 1968, along with a 1965 Ford and a 2009 Chevrolet PT.
- Filing tax returns for 2019 without accounting for his fraudulent gains.
The bill of information reports the alleged offenses took place between April 2014 and March 2020. While not directly naming Murnane or the accusations, a Columbus Zoo spokesperson gave a statement to NBC4 distancing it from the accused.
“The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium has taken decisive action to strengthen our financial policies and rebuild public trust … Attorney General Dave Yost’s office has our full support to actively pursue restitution on behalf of the Zoo and seek justice using the full extent of the law,” the spokesperson wrote.
Murnane’s attorney, Bradley Barbin, also provided a statement on behalf of his client.
“In his purchasing position at the zoo, Mr. Murnane was directed to operate in a way that inappropriately benefitted senior executives at the zoo,” Barbin wrote. “He is owning up to his mistakes and recognizes the activities which provided inappropriate benefits to zoo leaders and employees. For his part, he is providing evidence to the government and will pay restitution.”
The charges against Murnane follow the indictment in September of three former Columbus Zoo executives accused of stealing more than $2.29 million in public funds for their own benefit.
Stalf, former Chief Executive Officer, is scheduled for trial on Aug. 6, which consists of 36 felony charges. Pete Fingerhut, the zoo’s former marketing director, is facing 62 felony charges and will begin a trial beginning July 9. They both pleaded not guilty in October 2023.
Greg Bell, former Chief Financial Officer, pleaded guilty to 14 felony charges, including aggravated theft and tampering with records. He will be sentenced at the conclusion of his co-defendant’s cases.