Former Independence Seaport Museum director charged
Federal authorities today charged John S. Carter, the former president of the Independence Seaport Museum in Philadelphia, with mail fraud and tax evasion.
Federal authorities today charged John S. Carter, the former president of the Independence Seaport Museum in Philadelphia, with mail fraud and tax evasion.
Carter is accused of defrauding the museum of more than $1 million from 1997 to 2006.
Authorities say Carter created phony invoices and charged personal items to the museum - including the construction of a $335,000 carriage house for his Cape Cod home, $50,000 worth of home electronics, an $8,000 European vacation, and landscaping services.
According to the charging document filed today by federal prosecutor John Pease, Carter obtained title to a rare boat that had been donated to the museum and then arranged for the museum to refurbish the vessel. Carter is accused of keeping the $190,000 proceeds of the subsequent sale of the boat.
Carter, the government said, also spent $50,000 worth of museum money to buy a rare 1860 American Paddle Box carved wooden eagle and a 19th-century narwhal tusk.
"The defendant used the museum's funds as his personal piggy bank," U.S. Attorney Patrick L. Meehan said in a statement. "He spent with reckless abandon, went to extraordinary lengths to conceal his fraudulent activities, and abused the trust placed in him by the museum."
The charges were expected. His lawyer, Mark Cedrone, said Carter intended to plead guilty to the information filed today.
"There are a lot of positives to Mr. Carter that we hope to bring to the court's attention," Cedrone said. "Mr. Carter is not the monster that this unusually long criminal information suggests that he is."
The Carter investigation is separate but related to the investigation of State Sen. Vincent J. Fumo.
Fumo was indicted in February on charges of fraud and obstruction of justice, accused of bilking a South Philadelphia charity for personal and political purposes. The indictment also alleges that the senator defrauded the Philadelphia Seaport Museum out of more than $100,000 in luxury yacht trips for himself, family members and friends. Fumo has pleaded not guilty.
