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Fish And Wildlife Research Employees Suspected Of Theft

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By STEPHEN THOMPSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 23, 2009

Two administrators at the Fish and Wildlife Research Institute in St. Petersburg are suspected of having stolen tens of thousands of dollars in state funds by having checks made to companies that didn't provide any products in return, according to court documents.

After they were interviewed in January by Florida Department of Law Enforcement agents, Allen Nelson, the institute's facilities management administrator, resigned, and Melody Oakleaf, an operations and management consultant, was put on administrative leave, the documents say. Oakleaf was later fired, on March, 12, said Carli Segelson, a spokeswoman for FWRI.

Neither Nelson nor Oakleaf has been arrested, said Kristen Perezluha, a spokeswoman for FDLE.

Perezluha said criminal charges are possibly forthcoming, and the investigation continues.

A December 2008 audit by the Office of the Inspector General uncovered $20,594.33 in fraudulent purchases, altered invoices and falsified billing records at FWRI, court records show. All of the items were ordered by Oakleaf and paid with state funds, the records show.

The audit then mushroomed into a full-blown investigation by FDLE into possible wrongdoing by employees at the institute at 100 8th Ave. S.E. in St. Petersburg, the records say. A former secretary for Oakleaf told one FDLE agent that Oakleaf approved the disbursement of $75,000 in state funds to a business called MRS Specialties over a three-year period, but MRS gave nothing in return, the documents say.

The secretary, Kathleen Hannaman, also told the agent that Oakleaf prepared invoices for different vendors on her own laptop computer. It is an unusual practice because in the majority of cases a vendor prepares his own invoice.

One of the things the Office of the Inspector General found out was that Oakleaf had also arranged for a payment of more than $128,000 to F.D. Wintex Inc., a company that had already dissolved. The president of the company, Felecia Wintons, who is also known as Felecia Wintons-Taylor, has admitted to FDLE agents that she cashed state checks made out to Wintex and returned 80 percent of the money to Oakleaf, the documents say.

Wintons said Oakleaf prepared all purchase orders, invoices and other related paperwork in connection with the payments.

Since the investigation began, authorities have executed search warrants at two homes owned by Oakleaf and Nelson – one in Las Vegas, on Jan. 22, and another at 11449 74th Ave. N. in Seminole, within the past several weeks, court records show. FDLE agents think the pair arranged to transport the things they bought with the stolen money from Pinellas County to their Las Vegas home, the records show.

According to the affidavit filed to justify the search at the Seminole address, FDLE agents have accumulated a list of things seized that they suspect were bought with state money. The items include high-definition televisions, digital picture frames, recliner chairs, computer equipment, a pancake batter dispenser, $40 T-shirts, a Bluetooth head-set, and a book on how to better one's management skills.

The institute analyzes ecosystems, fisheries, aquatic wildlife and red tides, among other things.

Reporter Stephen Thompson can be reached at (727) 451-2336 or spthompson@tampatrib.com.

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