Catalina Island Conservancy Executive Reportedly under AG Scrutiny

In Allegations Made Against Catalina Conservancy Exec, the Los Angeles Times reports that the California state attorney general's office is investigating whether Ann Muscat, the executive director of the Santa Catalina Island Conservancy, has misappropriated the organization’s funds.  The story claims that the AG has received complaints about the operations of the Conservancy from “former officers of the nonprofit that manages nine-tenths of Santa Catalina Island.”  According to the Times, one complainant is Roy Rose, a major donor and former secretary of the board of directors who resigned “out of unhappiness with Muscat's stewardship” and now claims that

Muscat told him she "silenced" Mel Dinkel, the conservancy's treasurer and chief operating officer who resigned in May, with "hush money" in the form of a $100,000 "consulting agreement."

"She went on to say that she was working on securing such agreements for use in the future, acknowledging that there were other Judases in the organization…."

The press secretary for Attorney General Kamala D. Harris reportedly “would neither confirm nor deny that an investigation was underway.”

JRB