Audit Questions $8,400 Worth of Ely’s Expenses

An audit of Ventura County Community College District Trustee Tom Ely’s financial records found that he charged $8,400 worth of questionable expenses to the district, according to a source close to the Board of Trustees.

Earlier this week, an Oxnard accounting firm reported details of the audit to college Chancellor Barbara Derryberry.

After receiving a copy of the audit Tuesday, the Ventura County district attorney’s office upgraded its probe of Ely from an inquiry to a criminal investigation, said Dist. Atty. Michael D. Bradbury.

Bradbury said his office was looking into the possible misappropriation of several thousand dollars in district funds.

Ely, a 54-year-old Simi Valley resident running for the 4th District county supervisor’s seat, said the investigation was just an attempt by Bradbury to get press attention.

Ely has said the audit contained “not one implication of impropriety.” He blamed the auditors’ questions on what he said was their own misunderstanding of financial records and on poor bookkeeping by the district.

The district commissioned the audit two weeks ago after learning of Ely’s alleged gambling activities and after a disclosure that he used his district telephones to call hotels and casinos in Nevada.

Law-enforcement sources have said that Ely owes about $40,000 to some of the best known casinos and hotels in Las Vegas. In February, the Golden Nugget casino in Las Vegas sued Ely over alleged gambling debts of $8,000.

Ely has admitted some debts but said his losses have been greatly exaggerated in the media.