OHIO ETHICS COMMISSION AND COLUMBUS CITY ATTORNEY'S OFFICE

For more information, contact:
Ohio Ethics Commission
(614) 466-7090
OR
Columbus City Attorney's Office
(614) 645-7483

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

CHARGES FILED AGAINST FORMER STRS DIRECTOR DYER

On Wednesday, August 3, 2005, the Columbus City Attorney's Office filed charges alleging violations of the state's ethics laws against Herbert Dyer, former Executive Director of the State Teacher's Retirement System. Dyer resigned his position as Executive Director in August of 2003. The charges were filed in the Franklin County Municipal Court under case number 2005 CRB 18900.

Specifically, Mr. Dyer is charged with four 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 at a time when STRS was doing business with Frank Russell. Included among these things of value were meals, golf outings, and tickets to the Broadway Show Hairspray. Mr. Dyer is also charged with one count of failure to disclose for failing to disclose Frank Russell as a source of gifts and meals received in the 2002 calendar year. 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. Dyer is scheduled for arraignment on Thursday, September 8, 2005, at the Franklin County Courthouse, 375 South High Street, Columbus, Ohio, in Courtroom 4C at 9:00 a.m. The telephone number for information at the Municipal Court Criminal Division is 645-8186.

The charges in the instant case were the result of an investigation conducted by the Ohio Ethics Commission, resulting in a referral to the Columbus City Attorney's Office on April 28, 2005. Review of allegations of similar conduct on the part of other STRS employees, as well as members of the STRS Board of Trustees, continues.

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