COUNTYWIDE : Attorneys Examine Elys’ Hotel Bills
James T. (Tom) Ely’s purchases on a Ventura Community College district credit card were scrutinized for a second day Thursday as a prosecutor sought to prove allegations that Ely and his wife bilked the district out of more than $15,000.
Deputy Dist. Atty. Carol Nelson and defense attorneys James M. Farley and Willard Wiksell quizzed district Vice Chancellor Tom Kimberling about trips that the Elys took to college trustee conventions in Canada, Louisville, Sacramento and Universal City during the past three years. And the lawyers pored over more than 100 expense accounts that Tom Ely filed with the district, seeking reimbursement for the junkets.
On one trip to Canada, Kimberling testified, the Elys used the district’s American Express account to charge $1,605.89 worth of hotel costs at the Pan Pacific Hotel in Vancouver, $168 at the Empress Hotel in Victoria, British Columbia, and $294.35 in personal purchases at the Edinburgh Tartan Gift Shop.
And in January, the couple charged $261.17 in hotel bills on the district credit card for a two-day conference in Universal City, less than an hour from their Simi Valley home, Kimberling testified.
The Elys are charged with two counts each of conspiracy to commit grand theft, and Tom Ely is charged with eight counts of embezzlement and 19 counts of making a false claim.
Their preliminary hearing, to determine whether they should be tried in Superior Court, is to continue today in Ventura County Municipal Court.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
