Jan. 29, 2008 — A nine-month criminal investigation by the local Department of Justice has led to the arrest of former GERS administrator Willis C. Todmann, who was advised of his rights in V.I. Superior Court Tuesday on charges including embezzlement, conversion of government property, forgery and grand larceny.
V.I. Superior Court Judge Brenda J. Hollar signed off on Todmann's arrest warrant last Wednesday and set bail at $10,000. In court Tuesday, prosecuting attorneys attempted to have that amount increased to somewhere around $150,000. But Todmann's defense attorney, Treston Moore, reminded the court that his client had not made any attempts to evade police, but rather returned to the territory from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and "surrendered himself voluntarily" Monday after learning about the charges.
After questioning Todmann briefly on his employment history, financial status and ties to the community, V.I. Superior Court Judge Leon Kendall said he did not consider Todmann to be a flight risk and ordered that he be released on his own recognizance pending trial. In the interim, Todmann would also have to report weekly to a probation officer and ask permission from the court to travel outside the territory.
Todmann, dressed in a black pinstripe suit with red tie, remained upbeat during the hearing, telling Kendall that he would be moving back and forth between St. Thomas and Puerto Rico to help care for his ailing father, and might make trips to the mainland for various job interviews.
Without revealing any details, Government Employees' Retirement System board members placed Todmann on administrative leave last March. Todmann resigned soon after — the same day board members went public with financial irregularities without linking the two events. (See "GERS Administrator Resigns as Financial Problems Announced.")
The investigation into Todmann's affairs was triggered last April, when the Attorney General's Office received a complaint alleging that Todmann had "wrongfully" been collecting two paychecks during his tenure at GERS, court documents say.
GERS employment records show that before November 2004, Todmann served as the system's chief financial officer, pulling in an annual salary of $99,522. From November on, Todmann served as the system's acting administrator, earning a salary of $116,865.
A resolution previously passed by GERS' governing board would have allowed Todmann, at the time, to collect a salary of $117,052 — a combination of the chief financial officer's salary and 15 percent of whatever salary was set for the administrator during that period. While wage increases subsequently bumped the CFO's salary up to $108,750, prosecutors say the system's payroll records indicate that between February 2006 and February 2007, Todmann was getting paid in full for both positions, collecting an annual salary of $236,656.
Todmann also allegedly forged a memo from GERS' board chairman Carver Farrow authorizing the payment of an additional salary, according to the Justice Department's investigation.
"The memorandum from Willis C. Todmann (subsequently submitted to GERS' human resource division) requested compensation for the duties of chief financial officer from the period of Nov. 22, 2004, to the time that he would be relieved as acting administrator," court documents say. "The request for compensation was in addition to the monies that he was already receiving as acting administrator."
The investigation also revealed that Todmann, while collecting the two salaries, classified the CFO position as "vacant" in his 2007 budget submittal to the GERS' Board of Trustees, according to a news release sent from his office Tuesday by Attorney General Vincent Frazer.
During February 2006 and February 2007, the total amount of unauthorized payments to Todmann was nearly $113,000, in addition to $33,462 in retroactive payments, court documents say.
Todmann will appear in Superior Court again Feb. 4 for arraignment.
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