'I'm not a thief, I'm not a crook'

Dan Andrews acknowledges that some people won't believe a word he says and it's something he is going to have to deal with.

Those doubts center around the charges of grand theft, scheming to defraud under $20,000 and making false entries on corporate books brought against Andrews on Nov. 24, 2008 following a seven-month investigation by the state attorney's office into allegations of wrongdoing he committed while serving as CEO of the Greater Sebring Chamber of Commerce.

"First of all, it's not important to me what those people think," Andrews said Wednesday. "It's important to me for those who are interested in reading or hearing what I have to say, those who are willing to listen. It's important for me to be able to share with them that I'm not a thief, that I'm not a crook, that I never stole money and that everything I did when I worked for that organization I thought was in the best interest of the organization at the time."

On Monday, a plea agreement was reached between the state attorney's office in Bartow and the defense in the two separate cases against Andrews. The 10 Highlands County charges, which included an additional seven counts of making false entry on the books of a corporation, were dismissed because of restitution paid.

Andrews paid approximately $8,774.67 to the Greater Sebring Chamber of Commerce and $42,918 to Mid Florida Credit Union, according to court records.

In the Polk County case, Andrews pleaded no contest to one count of obligating a corporation beyond an authorized amount. A second count alleging the same offense, as well as two counts of false statements to a financial institution, was dropped.

He received a 36-month suspended prison sentence as a condition of 60 months probation.

"The plea agreement evolved out of continuing discussions with the defense attorneys, and the Highlands County charges were dismissed based on all of the facts and circumstances surrounding the two cases," said Chip Thullbery, spokesperson for the state attorney's office in Bartow, via e-mail on Thursday. "The attorneys and investigator assigned to the case have been in contact with the board of the Chamber throughout the prosecution, and we believe the outcome of the case was within parameters which had been discussed with them."

Chamber President Greg Harris, however, contends that neither he, the board nor the chamber's attorney were consulted on the details of the plea before the parties entered into it.

"There are many questions we would like answers to, and we are seeking those answers as we speak," Harris said Wednesday afternoon.

Thullbery said attempts were made to contact the chairman of the board after the "final specifics were set," but it was his understanding the chairman was on vacation.

The agreement was reached exactly two weeks before jury selection was set to begin. Andrews said the prosecution approached him and his attorneys on Jan. 22 with the plea and gave him the weekend to think it over.

"I went home and came back to my attorneys and said, 'I'm not going to do it,'" Andrews said. "I just feel that my side of the story will never get out there in the manner that I think it should be. I don't think they're going to hear the other side of the story unless we go to trial, and I said that is too important to me to be willing to take this agreement."

So, why accept the agreement? Andrews said his attorneys discussed that the proposed dollar amount in retribution was almost, to the dollar, the exact amount it would end up costing to try both of the cases.

Then there was the factor of never knowing just what a jury would do.

"Do I think the settlement was fair? I think the settlement was OK," Andrews said. "Am I happy with the settlement? Not so much. I would have preferred to go to trial, but I think that would have been irresponsible of me to do that to my family and I think we took the appropriate action based on weighing all the decisions."

"Dan did want the people to know what the truth was," said Bill Fletcher, Andrews' attorney. "It wasn't going to come out without going to trial."

Scholarship funds

Hours after the plea agreement was reached Monday, Andrews released a lengthy statement to local media outlets. It stated he was no longer restricted by his legal counsel and could speak about the allegations brought against him.

Before Andrews was fired, chamber board members and accountants reportedly discovered around $86,000 in dedicated scholarships had been moved to an operational fund and spent.

In his statement, Andrews said the money was transferred to cover a "shortfall in operating income" and his intentions were for it to be repaid over a short period of time, with interest.

Andrews said Wednesday he had a spreadsheet to keep track of the money transferred from the scholarship to the operating account.

"Once we got into the new facility and the new office, that was when we were going to start repaying it, from the revenue that we generated from membership dues and office rentals," he said.

Andrews added that construction costs and furnishing of the office exceeded what they had originally anticipated and several tenants who committed to renting space backed out of their rental agreements.

"So, we were subsidizing the cost of operating the facility and causing an even greater shortfall over the first several months of operation, which is what caused us not to be able to transfer the money back and repay the scholarship savings account in a timely manner," he said.

Ray Royce, executive director of the Highlands County Citrus Growers Association who served on the board at the time, said Wednesday he doesn't think Andrews intentionally sought to defraud or steal from the chamber, but he did take money that he knew or should have known was off limits to anything but the scholarship program and used it for other chamber purposes.

"As a chamber member, board member at the time, it was painfully obvious he was mismanaging the chamber and that was the reason the chamber board ultimately let him go," Royce said.

Andrews admits he did not advise the board on his decision to transfer the scholarship money to the operational fund. He thought his job was to handle the day-to-day operations and he made the "executive decision" to transfer the money.

"There was nothing wrong with transferring the money, there was nothing illegal to that," Andrews said. "It was just that I didn't inform the board of what I had done, and then when it got to the point that I wasn't able to replenish it, that's when we started to discuss it and then, you know what the end results were."

Personal purchases

Andrews admits that he purchased a Christmas gift - a bracelet - for his wife on a chamber credit card in an effort to surprise her, since he said she handles all their personal finances and would have seen it.

He said any personal purchases were reimbursed and he was following the same policies his predecessor had used for 10 years, thinking it as an "inherent benefit of the job."

Andrews said he did not stop and ask himself if using the company card for personal reasons was perhaps not the best idea.

"It was common practice to buy a personal item or two on the credit card and then you reimburse it," he said.

He said in his statement that by eliminating the internal finance officer, he lost the control person to verify expenses and see that reimbursements were issued in a timely manner.

Harris said using a company card for personal reasons was an unwritten rule since the balance was always paid for in full each month, with no interest incurred.

"I don't agree with that policy at all, and it's not a written policy at all," he said. "I think that's a horrible, horrible habit to get into. You don't mix personal with business, ever."

Lessons learned

In looking back over the last two years, Andrews said one thing he has learned about himself is that he is not good with finances.

"When I got hired (by) the chamber, if you asked me what I was good at, I might have dared to tell you I could do anything," he said. "Now, if you ask me what I'm good at, I'm going to straight up tell you, I'm not good at handling the day-to-day finances, the paying of bills and the monotonous, repetitive tasks, in whatever capacity."

He denies being a thief, but Andrews said he never should have eliminated the internal finance officer's position. The plan was to outsource billing and payables to an accounting firm.

"By letting those internal controls lapse is what got me to a problem, and then the problem just started to snowball because of the construction of the facility and all of the different elements (and) initiatives we were doing," he said.

The charge he pleaded to was a third-degree felony and Andrews said the money he paid in restitution was a reimbursement on the money used to furnish the new building.

For now, Andrews plans to continue growing his car restoration business and start volunteering with the local Boy Scout troop again.

One thing he won't be doing is getting back his seat on the Sebring City Council. Andrews sent a letter of resignation earlier this week to Council President John Griffin.

With the plea agreement reached, Royce said it is probably best that this chapter has come to a close.

"I certainly wish Dan and his family the best as he goes forward," Royce said. "It is unfortunate through his mismanagement and cases of bad judgment that it came to this, but apparently, the legal system has decided this is the best outcome for both sides."