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BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A new report from Idaho's attorney general says that the two founders of the Idaho Aquarium in Boise mismanaged financial records and made deceptive requests for donations while accepting excessive salaries and benefits.
Ammon Covino and Chris Conk did not maintain complete financial records or board minutes, which made the investigation difficult, Attorney General Lawrence Wasden said.
Covino and Conk received roughly $150,000 each in salaries in 2012, excluding thousands of dollars in benefits like cellphone payments, gas, insurance and food.
"They did everything they could to take full advantage of this community," Aquarium Board Chairman John Watts said.
The 42-page report says that the members of the board were essentially figureheads who did whatever Covino and Conk told them to do.
"The board members who spoke to the attorney general admitted they knew little about nonprofit corporations and said they believed — at the time — that Covino and Conk, as the Idaho Aquarium's 'founders,' owned the Idaho Aquarium and were entitled to whatever they want."
The report says that the board treasurer never had access to the aquarium's bank accounts — only Covino and Conk did.
The aquarium — now called the Aquarium of Boise — is under new management.
The two have already finished served jail sentences in Florida for bringing illegally harvested spotted rays and lemon sharks to the aquarium. Federal officials arrested the pair in February 2013. Covino severed one year; Conk served four months.
Wasden's office cannot make civil or criminal charges because only the local county prosecutor has that authority. But Jan Bennetts, the prosecuting attorney in Ada County, says she isn't sure what charges her office might bring.
"A lawsuit in this case would not have benefited anyone," Wasden said. "Ultimately, I'm pleased that Boise's public aquarium is now in good hands, and it's my hope it will continue to benefit the community."
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