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HomeNewsArchivesTAB FOR MIDNIGHT RAID ALMOST $383,000

TAB FOR MIDNIGHT RAID ALMOST $383,000

In what his successor called a "midnight raid on the treasury," former Gov. Roy L. Schneider and 36 members of his administration took almost $383,000 in lump sum payments with them when they left office at the end of December.
Gov. Charles W. Tumbull termed the episode "willful and malicious" in view of the territorial government's precarious fiscal condition. But he stopped short of using the word illegal to describe the payments, which were for unused annual and other leave.
In releasing the names Friday, Turnbull said he was particularly concerned that the payments were made through government miscellaneous disbursement vouchers, which "circumvented" deductions for income taxes and Social Security.
Tumbull has referred to the matter to the inspector general for a formal review, the Government House announcement said.
One source said former Finance Commissioner Juan Centeno, Schneider's running mate last Fall, originally was on the list but withdrew after Attorney General Julio Brady raised questions about the procedure to be used for the payments.
Tumbull did not say who approved the vouchers. Some government veterans said it had to be Schneider.
The former governor received the largest amount, $24,461. The remainder of the list is a virtual Who's Who of Schneider's administration, including Police Commissioner Ramon Davila, Licensing and Consumer Affairs Commissioner Osbert Potter, Government House Legal Counsel Amos W.Carty Jr., Office of Management and Budget Director Nellon Bowry, Internal Revenue Bureau Director Joseph A. Aubain and Government House Press Secretary Hal Hatfield.
The list of recipients, the jobs some of them held, and their lump-sum payments (rounded to the nearest dollar) includes:
Roy L. Schneider, Governor – $24,461
Levron Sarauw Sr., St. Thomas Administrator – $19.181
Maureen Bryan, Gov's Executive Secretary – $19,070
Amos W. Carty Jr., Gov's Legal Counsel – $18,647
David S. Brathwaite – $18,191
Oran Roebuck, Gov's Labor Negotiator – $17,375
Jose Raul Carrillo, Gov's Protocol Director – $16,533
Janette Millin, Deputy Press Secretary – $16,511
Lawrence A. Bastian, Frederiksted Administrator – $16, 347
Ramon S. Davila, Police Commissioner – $15,625
Deandre J. Atwell – $14,175
Louis Hughes, Asst. Public Works Commissioner – $13,903
Barbara L. Wheatley – $13,856
Nellon L. Bowry, OMB Director – $13,031
Dean M. Wallace, Special Assistant to Gov. – $11,594
Osbert Potter, Licensing, Consumer Affairs – $11,516
Hoyt Chang, Asst. to Gov – $9,597
Antonio Messer Sr. – $9,479
Eldred A. Potter Sr. – $9,426
Larry Boschulte – $9,217
Iris V. Magras – $9,005
James C. Dalmida Jr., St. John Administrator – $8,476
Lindel A. Williams, Public Works Commissioner – $8,375
Hal Hatfield, Press Secretary – $ 7,876
Maria O'Neal Wallace – $ 6,025
Norris Griffin – $5,687
Ebony Evans – $5,568
Alaine Lockhart – $5,074
Petra Phipps – $4,900
Maria Friday – $4,616
Joseph A. Aubain, Internal Revenue Director – $4,500
Marise James, Legal Counsel, St. Croix – $3,116
Beulah Dalmida-Smith, DPNR Commissioner – $3,062
Leslie Millin Sr. – $2,649
Samuel J. Baptiste – $2,620
Nerissa Marie Serrano – $2,250
Maria C. Benjamin – $1,201

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