Liegler to Give Expense Funds Back to Center : Settlement: Former San Diego Convention Center director has agreed to reimburse expenditures that were under investigation and pay for excessive insurance coverage.

The former director of the San Diego Convention Center has agreed to reimburse the center $32,266 in questionable expenses and for excessive insurance coverage the center provided him last year.

The settlements were revealed in a San Diego County district attorney’s report released Wednesday, which concludes that Tom Liegler--while not criminally liable for any of his actions--was “devious” when he submitted certain expense documentation to the Convention Center.

The Times reported Tuesday that Dist. Atty. Edwin Miller declined to file criminal charges against Liegler, the center’s director from 1985 until April, 1991, when he abruptly resigned during an internal investigation into his spending practices.

New details of the Liegler investigation emerged in Miller’s report to the city attorney’s office, which the district attorney released Wednesday.

Since a city audit report on the Convention Center was made public in March, the city attorney’s office has refused to provide any further information on the Liegler investigation. The city auditor’s office did not return a telephone call Wednesday.

But the district attorney’s report says that Liegler has agreed to reimburse $32,266.80 to the San Diego Convention Center Corp., operator of the facility. Liegler’s attorney, Peter Hughes, confirmed the terms of the reimbursement.

The proposed reimbursement agreement between Liegler and the Convention Center was reached while the district attorney’s investigation was still in progress, Hughes said Wednesday.

Liegler is to repay the center $16,164 for extra life insurance coverage he received last year. The center provided him double life insurance coverage between January, 1991, and March, 1991, a two-month period when one policy was ending and another beginning.

Hughes said the center bought a one-year, non-refundable premium to save money and when Liegler left his job, was stuck with a portion of the unused policy.

Liegler is also being made to pay $16,102 for several catered parties and out-of-town expenses, although the district attorney’s report does not provide details of the events. However, the district attorney did question more than $5,000 in travel to Rapid City, S.D.; Chicago, and Salt Lake City, which will be included in the reimbursement.

“We questioned Liegler at length concerning these trips,” the district attorney’s report says. “Although we believe he was devious when he submitted documentation for billings to (the Convention Center Corp.) and when he explained them to us, there is insufficient evidence of theft to warrant a criminal prosecution.”

Hughes said Liegler was “up front” in explaining the purpose of the three trips but acknowledged that auditors and prosecutors were still troubled by an apparent lack of documentation.

The center’s board of directors is scheduled to hold a special meeting Tuesday to consider a proposed settlement with Liegler, center spokeswoman Donna Alm said.

The board’s chairwoman, Patricia McQuater, has told the district attorney’s office that the board “is satisfied with a civil settlement” and is “not urging criminal prosecution,” Dist. Atty. Miller said.

Miller determined that although Liegler approved $92,308 for consultant services without proper documentation that included several of his former colleagues from Anaheim Stadium and the Anaheim Convention Center, there was no evidence of criminal misconduct.

“A significant problem stems from the lack of established constraints by (the Convention Center Corp.) on Liegler’s activities,” Miller wrote. “He was responsible for and very successful at publicizing and promoting the Convention Center. However, his promotional zeal was not sufficiently monitored by the (Convention Center) board.”

While traveling, Miller said, Liegler would mingle personal and business travel, making it difficult to determine the benefit of his trips.

“This situation lends itself readily to an administrative determination and demand for reimbursement when the burden of proof is on Liegler,” Miller wrote.

Liegler did not return a call Wednesday for comment and has never publicly explained his Convention Center expenditures.

His attorney, Hughes, however, said Liegler followed orders: he was to open the new Convention Center on time and attract convention business.

“He has been very successful,” Hughes said. “The Convention Center did not have a lot of restrictions and checks and balances. Tom had carte blanche. But he opened the facility under some very difficult circumstances. This is a job that he took on seven days a week. It was like being manager of a major resort and he put everything he had into it.”

Being under a criminal investigation, Hughes said, has been a “debilitating thing” but resolution of the investigation will allow Liegler to find new employment.

“I’m glad for him,” Hughes said. “Now that this is behind him, he can get his life going again. So far, he’s been cooling his heels. Now he can move on.”