Three days after taking over a Maine newspaper chain, former Times Leader editor and publisher Richard L. Connor doled out a sizable chunk of company cash to buy a sport utility vehicle for his son, the chain's current publisher alleged Wednesday.
The purchase, MaineToday Media publisher Lisa DeSisto said in a memorandum to staff, was the first in a series of Connor misappropriations totalling more than $500,000. The memorandum was published on the Portland Press Herald website.
Mr. Connor spent MaineToday Media funds on unauthorized salary increases and bonuses, personal credit card bills, landscaping, dental work and vacation home rent during his 27-month tenure, according to Ms. DeSisto, who characterized them as "employee theft."
Ms. DeSisto revealed the alleged misspending after what she said was a nearly yearlong internal investigation involving several independent forensic accounting reviews.
The Travelers Casualty and Surety Co. recently paid MaineToday Media $537,988 under the company's employee theft insurance policy following Mr. Connor's misappropriations, Ms. DeSisto said.
Mr. Connor, sued last May for failing to repay $250,123 to The Times Leader, denied Ms. DeSisto's allegations Wednesday in an interview with the Portland Press Herald, the flagship of the Maine chain.
Attempts to reach Mr. Connor on Wednesday were not successful. He told the Press Herald the allegations were false and the expenses legitimate.
"They're wrong and they're lying," Mr. Connor told the Portland Press Herald. "It's going to get resolved, and get resolved in my favor."
Ms. DeSisto, in her memorandum Wednesday, said Mr. Connor was able to conceal his alleged misappropriation in Maine "because company officers charged with financial oversight and reporting were frequently replaced."
Mr. Connor, she said, hired four chief financial officers in just over two years. When the company's board of directors finally selected and installed its own choice as chief financial officer, "it was only a matter of a few months before Mr. Connor's financial self-dealing was uncovered and he was out as CEO," Ms. DeSisto said.
Mr. Connor led a group of investors that purchased The Times Leader from The McClatchy Co. for $65 million in 2006.
Contact the writer: msisak@citizensvoice.com, @cvmikesisak