Financial Probe Targets Natural History Museum : Investigation: Head of George C. Page facility is on leave pending inquiry into possible fund-raising irregularities.

The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office served search warrants Friday at the Museum of Natural History and its affiliate, the George C. Page Museum, as part of a three-month investigation into possible financial irregularities at the 80-year-old institution.

Museum officials said they were notified early Friday by prosecutors that the target of the investigation is the museum’s chief deputy director, Mark A. Rodriguez, who was in charge of running the Page Museum.

Rodriguez has been placed on non-disciplinary administrative leave pending the outcome of the inquiries, museum Director James L. Powell said.

Prosecutors are investigating possible discrepancies in the books of the Museum Foundation, a private support group in charge of fund raising. Operations at the Page Museum are funded by the county and the foundation.

Powell said that museum staff members were stunned.

“It is a shock to staff, and people are somewhat taken aback,” Powell said. “It will take a few days to get back to normal.”

Rodriguez, who is paid $92,500 a year as a county employee, was not available for comment Friday. He had served as chief deputy director both at the museum and the Museum Foundation, but his job with the foundation ended last June 30, said Jim Gilson, vice president and general counsel for the foundation.

Powell, who has been director of the museum for seven months, said that apparent irregularities in financial statements were uncovered during the course of his attempt to revamp management and operating procedures and that the museum is fully cooperating with authorities.

“We made some personnel changes and as a result uncovered some things we didn’t understand,” Powell said in an interview Friday. “There were some discrepancies in the accounts and so we took it to the D.A.” Powell declined to discuss specifics.

The Natural History Museum has had a turbulent recent history, with retired former Director Craig C. Black’s tenure tainted by personnel problems and allegations of questionable management. In addition, the museum has been battered by the county’s financial difficulties, with its budget being reduced from about $14 million to $9 million.

A new 25-year operating agreement has stabilized the county’s annual allocation at $9 million, with the foundation to match 80% of that amount.

Black and Rodriguez were subjects of a previous investigation by the district attorney’s office, which resulted in no criminal charges being filed.

A 1993 report prepared by the auditor-controller’s office found that museum managers had violated Civil Service rules while laying off employees and failed to maintain an adequate inventory of the museum’s collections.

More recently, the museum has been the subject of a wide-ranging investigation by the county Citizens Economy and Efficiency Commission, which employed an outside museum consultant to look into management, personnel policies and contractual arrangements.

Commission Executive Director Bruce J. Staniforth said the inquiry did not involve a formal audit or target specific employees. However, the commission “stumbled” across some areas of management policy that needed improvement, he said.

“In covering our bases we found some areas that could be done better, that could improve operations. But there was nothing fraudulent that we found or we would have initiated action on our part,” Staniforth said. The commission’s report is scheduled to be released in the next few weeks.

According to a confidential district attorney’s report detailing the earlier investigation, there were allegations that Rodriguez had been issued a badge by the museum safety police and was conferred reserve officer status for the purpose of carrying a gun and driving a car equipped with flashing lights, a siren and a police radio scanner.

Investigators found that Rodriguez, a former deputy marshal with the county, had not been properly certified for peace officer status, but that he exhibited no criminal intent.

A second set of allegations involved Rodriguez’s use of state Department of Justice computers to conduct illegal investigations of museum personnel. Rodriguez denied the charges and the district attorney again declined to prosecute.

Times staff writer Rich Simon contributed to this story.