Also Double-Billed for Conference : Ortiz Admits Asking Firm to Fund Trips

Former San Diego County Registrar Ray Ortiz admitted Wednesday that he asked a Los Angeles company that had a printing contract with the county to pay for trips for him and his staff and that he double-billed the printing firm and another organization for a business trip to New Orleans that included his wife and an associate.

Under relentless questioning by Deputy Dist. Atty. Douglas Gregg, Ortiz admitted that he kept an additional $238 that was paid to associate Ingrid Gonzalez to cover expenses for the New Orleans trip in December, 1985. During the trip, Ortiz paid for the trio’s hotel accommodations but was later reimbursed by Jeffries Banknote Co.--the Los Angeles printing firm--and the now-defunct Bureau of Social Science Research, a nonprofit group in Washington that monitors national elections.

The Washington organization also sent Gonzalez a check to pay for her air fare, which she turned over to Ortiz. Ortiz never told her that Jeffries had also reimbursed him for Gonzalez’s expenses. Defense attorney Merle Schneidewind called the $238 kept by Ortiz a “windfall,” because Gonzalez “was never out any money.”

Both sides rested Wednesday, after Ortiz ended two days on the witness stand. Ortiz, 52, is charged with 27 felony counts of grand theft, misappropriation of public funds and making false entries in public records. He is charged with stealing $7,300 from the county in six transactions between May, 1984, and July, 1986.

Superior Court Judge David M. Gill recessed the trial until Monday, when jurors will return to hear final arguments from both sides and will receive jury instructions.

When questioning Ortiz about the double invoices that he submitted for the New Orleans trip, Gregg asked:

“In essence, you were seeking money for expenses that had already been paid?”

“Yes,” Ortiz answered.

Overzealous Secretary Blamed

He blamed the billing sent to the Washington group on an overzealous secretary, who submitted the invoice before he had a chance to approve it. However, Ortiz made no attempt to return the money sent to him by the elections research group.

Later, under questioning by Schneidewind, Ortiz said he billed the Washington group for the New Orleans trip because he did not know that Jeffries was also going to reimburse him. But under questioning by Gregg, Ortiz admitted that Lynn Kienle, a Jeffries vice president, had paid for the airline tickets and made reservations to New Orleans for him and his group Oct. 9, more than two months before the trip.

Ortiz said that, after returning from the conference, he persuaded Kienle to also pay for the hotel expenses for him, his wife and Gonzalez.

In addition to the New Orleans trip, Kienle also agreed to pay for Ortiz’s trip to Chicago in March, 1986, when he met with elections officials, Ortiz said, adding that he also persuaded Kienle to pay the expenses for three Chicago elections officials when they attended a conference in Redding.

Questioned on Propriety

When asked by Gregg whether he saw anything improper in asking Kienle, whose company had a printing contract with the county, to pay for his trip expenses, Ortiz answered:

“Not as long as it saves taxpayers’ dollars. . . . He (Kienle) was always very good about paying expenses.”

Ortiz said he asked Kienle to pay the expenses for the three Chicago officials because Jeffries wanted to get involved in national elections and he thought that the Redding conference would be a good opportunity for Kienle to meet other national officials.

Gregg’s methodic cross-examination of Ortiz also appeared to poke several holes in Ortiz’s claim that Kienle lied when he testified that Ortiz had instructed him to bill the county for costs incurred by Jeffries for trips for Ortiz and his staff.

Kienle, who was granted immunity from prosecution, also testified that Ortiz instructed him to pay registrar employees Maria Caldera and Lance Gough for consulting work for Jeffries. Kienle said he never knew whether they did any consulting work. After paying Caldera and Gough, Ortiz instructed him to bill the county for the fees paid to the pair, Kienle testified.

On Wednesday, Ortiz admitted that he instructed Kienle to pay Caldera and Gough, but he denied ever telling him to bill the county for these and other expenses.

However, Ortiz admitted that language contained in the invoices submitted to Jeffries for consulting work allegedly done by Caldera and Gough was “false.” Gregg questioned him repeatedly about the invoices until Ortiz admitted that the invoices were misleading.

Gough, who was a temporary registrar employee, never worked for Jeffries as a consultant during a special election as alleged in one invoice, Ortiz said.

False Invoices Noted

He repeatedly referred to them as “false invoices” and claimed that they contained language that was dictated by Kienle.

“These are the words that Mr. Kienle had me put on the invoices,” Ortiz said. “He wanted special language.”

Ortiz admitted that he persuaded Kienle to hire Caldera as a Jeffries consultant while Caldera was a registrar temporary employee. He said Kienle hired Caldera, who is Ortiz’s lifelong friend, as a proofreader of Spanish-language ballots.

Gregg questioned Ortiz extensively about three invoices sent by Caldera to Jeffries for $4,000, $3,150 and $1,275. Though Caldera was allegedly working as a Jeffries consultant on her own time, Ortiz said he filled out the first invoice for $1,275 for Caldera.

On Tuesday, Ortiz testified that when Caldera received a check for $1,275 from Jeffries, she signed the check over to him. Ortiz explained that Caldera gave him the check because she owed him $925. He cashed the check and gave her a check from his personal account for the difference, $350.

When district attorney investigators searched Ortiz’s records, they found a carbon copy of the $350 check made out to Caldera with the words “cleaning and repair on Sanger house” written in red ink. Gregg suggested that Ortiz, who owns rental property in Sanger, near Fresno, apparently was going to use the check to help write off expenses on the property.

Writing on Check a Mistake

When asked to explain the writing on the check, Ortiz smiled and said it was a mistake.

During the time that Caldera was allegedly working as an independent consultant to Jeffries, Ortiz helped her fill out the invoice for $3,150 that was submitted to Kienle. Ortiz testified that he discussed the wording on the invoice with Kienle before it was submitted by Caldera.

Later, a $4,000 check paid to Caldera by Jeffries for more consulting work was delivered instead to Ortiz. Ortiz told district attorney investigators that the check for Caldera was sent to him by Kienle in an envelope marked “personal and confidential.” He told investigators that the check was a payment for work done by Caldera on sample ballots.

“As far as I know, she’s an employee of Jeffries Banknotes,” Ortiz told investigators who questioned him about Caldera.

Gregg asked Ortiz about his claim to investigators that Caldera had done consulting work for Jeffries on the sample ballots.

“Was it the truth?” Gregg asked.

“It was untrue,” Ortiz answered.

Prosecutors charged that Ortiz used part of the $4,000 paid to Caldera to purchase a car for his 19-year-old daughter in 1986. Ortiz denied this and said that the car was purchased with money saved for that purpose years before his daughter graduated from high school.

Caldera, who is charged with three counts of grand theft, is scheduled to go to trial later this month. Gough, who is charged with a single count of grand theft, is being tried with Ortiz.