Charitable funds given to the J. Paul Getty Trust were improperly used to pay the travel expenses of the foundation’s former chief executive and buy artwork for retiring board members, the California attorney general said in a report Monday.
However, the yearlong investigation did not find any fraud at the $9 billion trust, the nation’s third-largest private foundation.
While trusts such as the Getty are important to society, “they must at all times spend money lawfully and to further their charitable purposes,” Attorney General Bill Lockyer said.
The probe also prompted Lockyer to appoint a former state attorney general to independently monitor the trust for two fiscal years, the first time in state history that someone will oversee the dealings of a charitable trust.
The trust’s board said it agreed to the appointment of John Van de Kamp and will cooperate with him.
“The board has recognized the need for strengthened oversight, and has taken actions to make the Getty a leader in governance,” said Louise Bryson, the chair of the Getty’s board of trustees.
The trust, which governs museums including the Getty Center in Los Angeles and the Getty Villa in Malibu, has been mired in scandals during the past two years.
The report detailed lavish spending by trustees. The “inappropriate” expenditures by a nonprofit organization included having former Getty Chief Executive Barry Munitz fly first class, stay in luxury hotels and dine at classy restaurants, according to the report.
The probe also determined that Getty trustees should not have allowed more than $21,500 in charitable funds to be used to buy artwork for retiring trustees, who are supposed to serve without compensation.
“Unfortunately, with some expenditures and gifts, Mr. Munitz violated his duty, and Getty’s trustees failed to do their governance job,” Lockyer said.
Munitz quit in February and agreed to forgo more than $2 million guaranteed in his contract and to reimburse the Getty $250,000 to settle unresolved disputes.
The trust has been under intense scrutiny following charges that a former curator, Marion True, dealt in looted art. The Greek and Italian governments have claimed the Getty museum bought ancient artworks that were smuggled out of those countries.
The museum has denied wrongdoing but in 1999 it returned three pieces to Italy, including a fifth century B.C. drinking cup. Two artifacts — a sixth century B.C. votive relief and a fourth century B.C. carved tombstone — were returned to Greece earlier this year.
True, along with American art dealer Robert Hecht, is on trial in Rome, accused of trafficking stolen artifacts. Both have denied wrongdoing.