D.A. Investigates College Leader’s Fund Transfers : Moorpark: Trustees have reprimanded the campus president for shifting $51,000 to a private foundation.

The Ventura County district attorney’s office began an inquiry Thursday to determine if Moorpark College President Stanley L. Bowers committed a crime when he transferred $51,000 in public money to a private foundation that bought new furniture for the president’s office and a country club membership in his name.

“There may be absolutely no criminal misconduct involved,” Dist. Atty. Michael D. Bradbury said. “It may be entirely a civil matter.”

Ventura County Community College District trustees officially reprimanded Bowers on Tuesday for transferring the $51,000 in campus bookstore profits to the Moorpark College Foundation, and for funneling another $3,152 to the college’s former alumni association president, Ingrid Ely, to pay for her travel.

Both actions appear contrary to state civil law, which requires that bookstore profits be spent for the benefit of students, trustees said. Civil violations can lead to fines but not imprisonment. Bowers, while accepting the trustees’ sanction, has insisted that his actions were legal. He could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Bradbury said he is interested in the Bowers case because it overlaps with his office’s prosecution of community college Trustee James T. (Tom) Ely and his wife, Ingrid. The Elys are awaiting a January trial on conspiracy and embezzlement charges stemming from their alleged filing of false travel claims with the district.

“We decided we would give this a look in light of the Ely matter, and the fact that there is a nexus there,” Bradbury said.

The community college’s investigation of bookstore profit transfers began in earnest in October after the district’s lawyer found that Bowers had exceeded his authority in providing the $3,152 to Ingrid Ely for college-related travel. Prosecutors allege that Ingrid Ely was paid twice for some of the travel--by Bowers and by the district. Bowers is listed as a witness in the Ely case.

The college trustees have directed Chancellor Barbara A. Derryberry and Bowers to work together to get $16,000 in bookstore profits back from the foundation, which has raised $1.5 million for the college since 1980. The foundation should also document that another $35,000 in bookstore profits were spent to improve the campus football stadium as Bowers maintained, the trustees said.

Jim Niles, the foundation’s executive director, said Thursday that he is nearly certain that his board of directors will comply with the district’s requests when it meets next on Jan. 10.

“Our sole point in existing is to raise money for the college, and I personally don’t foresee any problem in being 100% cooperative,” Niles said. College district trustees “are doing what they think is necessary to close the book on this issue, and it’s a foregone conclusion that we’re going to be as cooperative as possible.”

Niles said that while the foundation had paid for the president’s office furniture and for the North Ranch Country Club membership held in Bowers’ name, there is no way to tell whether bookstore profits were used for them.

Nor could college district officials say for sure that bookstore funds paid for the furniture and membership because the bookstore money was deposited into the foundation’s general account with the rest of its funds. No separate accounting was made of how bookstore money was spent, Niles said.

If $35,000 of the bookstore profits were spent on stadium improvements, trustees said, it would be a legitimate use of the money since it would benefit students.

There is no evidence that Bowers criminally misappropriated bookstore funds, trustees have said. Bowers told trustees that bookstore money was not used to pay for the country club membership or a $1,500 love seat and sofa for his office, they said.

The college president, in a letter to the board, maintained that he used his country club privilege for only six meals in two years, plus a graduation dinner in 1989. He said he paid personally each time.