FDLE to investigate SCF president Hafner

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating State College of Florida President Lars Hafner.

HERALD-TRIBUNE ARCHIVE / 2011 / THOMAS BENDER

Published: Saturday, July 14, 2012 at 1:00 a.m.

Last Modified: Friday, July 13, 2012 at 5:00 p.m.

MANATEE COUNTY - The investigation into whether State College of Florida President Lars Hafner forged signatures on college documents became a formal criminal probe Friday after the case was referred to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

College trustees last month reported Hafner to the Commissioner of Education after a former employee claimed in an affidavit that Hafner forged the signature of former BOT Chairman Steve Harner. The former employee saved a document that appears to show Hafner practicing the signature before signing it.

Hafner admits he signed Harner's name on a few occasions but said he had permission from the Venice restaurant and marina owner.

Nonetheless, the Florida Inspector General's office felt the case was serious enough to warrant an investigation by the FDLE, which can bring criminal charges.

"If the Inspector General identifies potential criminal activity, then they turn that over to law enforcement," said Gretl Plessinger, a spokeswoman for FDLE.

Plessinger said it is not known how long the investigation will take.

According to the affidavit sent to the state, Hafner replicated Harner's squiggly signature on a 2010 grant application that secured $325,000 in state startup funds for SCF's charter school.

Harner confirmed in an affidavit this month that he had given Hafner permission to sign his name at least two times but told the Herald-Tribune that he could not specifically remember if it was for that particular document.

Hafner claimed in a meeting that the investigation was an attempt by SCF Board Chairman Carlos Beruff to remove him from the college, a claim Beruff denied.

In addition to Hafner's reputation, at stake is whether trustees can fire Hafner without paying him roughly $1.1 million in salary and benefits for the remaining four years of his contract.

Hafner's contract states that trustees must honor that unless he pleads guilty to a felony or is found guilty of a crime involving "moral turpitude"

Local attorneys were divided on whether Hafner's duplication of Harner's signature was unethical, although most said it was bad practice to sign a document without indicating it was "by authority" of another person.

But Lee Haas, a Clearwater business attorney, said an affidavit that Harner signed saying he gave Hafner permission would serve as an after-the-fact ratification of signing authority.

Attorneys indicated that prosecutors would have to show Hafner benefitted personally from duplicating Harner's signature to convict him of criminal forgery.

Source: http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20120714/article/120719832

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