JOINT PRESS RELEASE: OHIO ETHICS COMMISSION & COLUMBUS CITY ATTORNEY RICHARD C. PFEIFFER JR.'S OFFICE

For more information, contact:
Ohio Ethics Commission
(614) 466-7090
or
Columbus City Attorney Richard C. Pfeiffer's Office
(614) 645-7483

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

CHARGES FILED AGAINST FORMER STRS BOARD MEMBER CHAPMAN

On Monday, June 19, 2006, the Columbus City Attorney Richard C. Pfeiffer Jr.'s Office filed charges alleging violations of the state's ethics laws against Jack Chapman, former Board Member of the State Teacher's Retirement System (STRS). Chapman resigned from his seat on the Board in June of 2004.

Specifically, Mr. Chapman is charged with three counts of Conflict of Interest for receiving things of value between the years 1998 and 2003 from the Frank Russell Corporation/Russell Real Estate Advisors and Salomon Smith Barney (now Citicorp) at a time when STRS was doing business with Frank Russell and Salomon Smith Barney. Included among these things of value were Indians tickets, a golf outing, and a ticket to the Broadway Show Hairspray. These violations are all misdemeanors of the first degree, punishable by a maximum penalty of a $1,000.00 fine and/or six months in jail.

Mr. Chapman is scheduled for arraignment on June 20, 2006, at the Franklin County Courthouse, 375 South High Street, Columbus, Ohio, in Courtroom 4C at 9:00 a.m. The charges were filed in the Franklin County Municipal Court under case number 2006 CRB 15266. The telephone number for information at the Municipal Court Criminal Division is: (614) 645-8186.

The charges were the result of an investigation conducted by the Ohio Ethics Commission, referred to the Columbus City Attorney's Office on April 28, 2005. Review of allegations involving other STRS employees and STRS Board of Trustees Members continues.

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