SF Aquarium Calls for State Review of Alleged Financial Mismanagement

San Francisco Bay Aquarium officials plan to ask state authorities to investigate their ousted president and CEO, who they say spent lavishly on travel and events as the aquarium struggled financially.

The board of directors of Bay.org, the nonprofit that oversees the aquarium, voted Wednesday to refer “allegations of financial and operational mismanagement” by George Jacob to the California attorney general's office, according to Jon B. Fisher, the board's newly appointed chairman.

The attorney general's office's charitable trusts section investigates and prosecutes charities that misuse funds. Its investigations, which can last anywhere from six months to several years, can result in enforcement actions such as recovering misused funds, imposing penalties and even involuntary dissolution of a charity, according to the office.

“I believe this great organization designed to protect and enhance fish and the ocean has been dismantled and needs to be reviewed by the attorney general,” said Fisher, an aquarium donor who joined the board in February.

Jacob, a self-described museum futurist, was forced to resign May 22 after key members of his staff expressed concerns about his spending and other behavior in letters to Bay.org’s board. Former staffers, many of whom told the Chronicle they resigned out of frustration with Jacob’s management, said previous versions of Bay.org’s board had long been aware of the nonprofit’s management problems and were also responsible for its troubles.

Jacob's attorney, Angela Alioto, a former San Francisco supervisor, said her client was being defamed. She previously called his ouster a firing and said he planned to sue for wrongful termination, among other charges.

“We will cooperate 100 percent with any investigation into the great attorney general of the state of California,” Alioto said.

Fisher would not disclose the specific financial and management issues Bay.org plans to bring to the attorney general, but he previously told the Chronicle that “money was seriously mismanaged” under Jacob.

Last December, Jacob staged a concert at a Dubai opera house that cost his nonprofit about $461,000, according to a preliminary tally provided by staff to the board. He organized the concert in hopes of wooing donors for his $260 million plan to turn the aquarium into a world-class climate museum, which never came to fruition.

Jacob also received a $286,000 travel budget last year from the nonprofit, according to early estimates. He flew around the world to present his vision for transformation.

At the same time, his nonprofit was in a deepening financial crisis. Staffers said a $700,000 loan the aquarium received last year to upgrade its failing infrastructure was largely used for other purposes, including unpaid rent and credit card charges.

Alioto said she sent a letter of intent to sue Bay.org on Tuesday. She said Jacob was wrongfully fired after reporting employee misconduct to the board and that some employees who spoke out against him were “on the verge of being fired” by Jacob.

Alioto said any investigation by the attorney general should not be limited to Jacob.

“Nothing was spent without the board knowing about it,” she said.

The law firm Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe has agreed to represent Bay.org and its current board pro bono against any legal claims filed by Jacob, Fisher and the firm told the Chronicle.

Fisher said he hopes to turn around the nonprofit's financial situation.

Contact Tara Duggan: [email protected]; Twitter: @taraduggan; Contact Michael Barba: [email protected]