DAY 11: America Held Hostage:
Senator's campaign linked to Riscorp
Records show ties between the insurer that gave
illegal gifts and the 1994 Harris campaign.
By DIANE RADO
© St. Petersburg Times, published August 14, 1998
ALLAHASSEE -- Like dozens of other politicians, state Sen.
Katherine Harris, R-Sarasota, has distanced herself from a
campaign finance scandal involving Riscorp Inc.
But federal court records show close links between Harris' 1994
state Senate campaign and the Sarasota insurance company that
schemed to give illegal contributions to candidates. Harris is now a
Republican candidate for secretary of state, Florida's chief elections
officer.
Among the links in the records:
A 1994 memo shows that Riscorp officials advised Harris'
then-campaign manager on how to change the addresses listed for
Riscorp checks to keep the media from tracing them back to
Riscorp.
Federal prosecutors listed Harris' campaign manager, David Lapides,
as one of the "co-conspirators" or "co-schemers" in the effort to hide
the true identity of campaign contributors on campaign finance
reports. Lapides was never charged in the scandal, and he could not
be reached for comment.
Consultant Joan Collier, a former Riscorp employee, was paid by
Riscorp to work on Harris' Senate campaign. She spent about
$6,200 on fund-raisers, campaign materials and other consulting
work -- all billed to Riscorp.
Harris said Thursday that she thought Collier was a volunteer, like
many others who worked on her Senate campaign and that she didn't
know Riscorp was being billed for Collier's work. Harris also said
she had no idea that Lapides was considered a "co-conspirator" in
the Riscorp case.
"It's really surprising," Harris said. "I know David. I can't imagine in a
million years that he would know anything about this."
Harris said she learned of the 1994 memo this past year when
investigators at the Florida Department of Law Enforcement asked
her about it.
"They came and asked me questions and we cooperated," Harris
said. "We were all in it together trying to figure it out."
The Sept. 22, 1994, memo was written by Fernanda Bockler -- then
secretary to Riscorp founder Bill Griffin -- who was given immunity
by federal prosecutors in the Riscorp case. She wrote to Edward J.
Hammel, then a top Riscorp executive.
* * *
The memo relates that checks were delivered to Harris the day
before, and then adds: "Katherine's office called and asked if we
could give them different addresses to list for each of the checks. All
of the checks show the PO Box 1598 address and if they submit
these the newspaper will probably make the connection and track
them all back to RISCORP. Please advise what to tell them."
* * *
Handwritten notes on the memo indicate that this advice was given:
List the post office box on three of the checks, and a street address
for the other two checks. "Told David at Katherine's office," the
handwritten notes state.
Harris said her 1994 campaign had a policy of getting street
addresses for campaign contributors as much as possible, because
that is what is suggested by the secretary of state's office, where
reports of campaign contributions are filed.
Beyond that, she couldn't explain the memo.
"I wasn't involved in the exchange," she said.
On the campaign trail in her race for secretary of state, Harris has
been describing herself as one of many victims of the Riscorp scandal
that culminated this week in federal court.
Griffin, the company's founder, was sentenced to five months in
federal custody for scheming to funnel nearly $400,000 in illegal
campaign contributions to candidates who could help his company.
He also paid the federal government a $1.5-million penalty. Four of
his top executives were sentenced and fined on misdemeanor charges
in connection with the scandal.
The scheme involved collecting campaign contributions from
employees, then reimbursing them in the form of "bonuses." The
company would claim the reimbursements as business expenses on
federal tax returns.
Riscorp gave 875 contributions to 96 local, state and federal
candidates. Of the state legislative candidates, Harris got the most in
Riscorp contributions: $20,292. That included the $6,200 in "in-kind"
contributions made by Collier, who later billed them to Riscorp.
Secretary of State Sandra Mortham received $5,825 from Riscorp.
Griffin said during his sentencing hearing this week that he paid
Collier a $3,000 retainer because he "wanted her to get to know
Katherine Harris." Collier helped on other campaigns, but she did
more with Harris than any other candidate, federal records show.
Griffin, who has an ownership interest in the Tampa Bay Devil Rays,
also testified that he began relying on the program of reimbursing
employees for campaign contributions after being solicited by
Insurance Commissioner Tom Gallagher for contributions in 1990.
Gallagher was seeking re-election at the time. Griffin said he pledged
$100,000 to the campaign but fell short and had to get employees to
write checks that he would later reimburse.
Gallagher, who is now running for education commissioner, said
Thursday that he did not personally solicit contributions from Griffin,
"but I'm sure he got solicited by the campaign." He said the campaign
was careful not to solicit money from any insurance companies that
were having regulatory problems.
Gallagher got $109,189 from Riscorp for his 1990 insurance
commissioner race and 1994 run for governor -- more than any other
candidate. He said Thursday that the numbers are high because limits
on individual contributions were not as strict then.
The federal records also list Tallahassee insurance lobbyist Gary
Guzzo and Sarasota lawyer Daryl Brown, an attorney for Riscorp, as
"co-conspirators or co-schemers" in the scheme to hide the true
identity of contributors on campaign finance reports.
The records show that Riscorp reimbursed Guzzo and Brown's
relatives, friends or associates for contributions made to Gallagher
and current Insurance Commissioner Bill Nelson. Both Guzzo and
Brown were given immunity by federal prosecutors in the Riscorp
case. Guzzo said Thursday that he understood he could not talk
about matters he discussed with a federal grand jury. Brown could
not be reached for comment.
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