Well-known businessman leaves Savannah Airport Commission after alleged misuse of credit card
From the Savannah Business Journal’s Savannah Airport Commission removes Sylvester Formey for making more than $13,000 in unapproved personal charges on credit card:
Longtime Savannah Airport Commission Chairman and Savannah businessman Sylvester Formey has been removed as Chairman, and is resigning his position on the Commission – expected to be received today at City Hall – for charging more than $13,000 in personal expenses to a credit card issued to him by the Airport administration for commission-related travel expenses.
The Savannah Business Journal has confirmed that the charges go back for more than 12 months, and were caught by an airport administration employee. […]
“What it looks like happened is, in the beginning he was making restitution on a monthly basis, but then he stopped, stopped making monthly restitution… it got behind But then you start drilling down: he wasn’t traveling then, he didn’t have a meeting that date … ” [Savannah airport director Greg] Kelly summarized, in explaining the staff’s review. The charges were for items such as gas and groceries.
Formey is also part owner of the affordable housing project Sustainable Fellwood (when alderman Van Johnson was unhappy with the handling of major leak at the complex, he emailed Formey). He is also a partner of Savannah alderman Estella Shabazz in Vanguard, which is involved with Parsons, Inc., which provides program management services to the Savannah-Chatham public schools. And he is secretary/treasurer of the World Trade Center Savannah.
Having lived in Savannah for 20 years, I’m no longer surprised by the fact that the same names show up on one prominent board after another, but it sure feels like time to shake things up. Even when the board members are transparently honest, the overlapping interests smack of cronyism.
About Author
billdawers
I've been a freelance columnist for the Savannah Morning News since 2000. In 2011, I launched Savannah Unplugged as a place for news, analysis, and photos that weren't good fits for my newspaper columns. In fall 2013, I launched the music blog hissing lawns to fill a need for more music coverage in the Savannah area. I also teach English and journalism course at Armstrong State University, an under-appreciated gem here in Savannah.
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Hey Bill, do your Chatham County movers & shakers go for training at summer camp in DeKalb County or something?
Some of the shakers and movers in Chatham and a few other coastal counties could teach a masters class in DeKalb.
The MA DeKalb program is how to publically announce how busy you are, your assistants charged it, it was an honest mistake, the amount is insignificant in your earnings and net worth and that this has no relationship to your other duties you will not resign.
To your buddies it is laughable that the amount is all those idiots could ID. While they rally around proclaiming the unfair mistreatment of such a respected person.
Now for the PhD…….
When are P-cards NOT a terrible idea? Just submit your expenses for reimbursement!
Yeah but you can’t run anything without trustingsomebody. The problem is finding trustworthy people. Made harder when untrustworthy people are doing the hiring.
They’re worthwhile for people that regularly incur significant business expenses and when subject to oversight and accountability—as in someone whose job is on the line directly receiving the statement and comparing it to the users written explanation/accounting of charges before payment is approved, with a random audit program checking on what the checker approved. P-cards also have the advantage of direct submission of the charge instead of easily falsifiable and more difficult to check on receipts.
The guy should have been put on notice after a first reimbursement and shown the door after the third.