AP News, February 2nd, 2007
The J. Paul Getty Trust said Thursday that it has submitted revised staff policies to an independent monitor as part of an agreement between the Getty and the California attorney general's office.
The independent monitor was appointed in October after a state investigation found some improper spending at the $9 billion trust, the nation's third-largest private foundation. It was the first time in state history that a monitor was charged with overseeing the dealings of a charitable trust.
The Getty said it has implemented the new policies to improve oversight and promote ethical conduct among trustees and employees. It has also hired Deloitte Financial Advisory Services to assess the trust's implementation of the policies.
The policies were not released, although key changes have been posted on the trust's Web site. One policy adopted Oct. 26 stated the museum would not acquire artwork that has been stolen or illegally imported into the United States.
"The Museum will undertake due diligence to establish the legal status of an object under consideration for acquisition, making every reasonable effort to investigate, substantiate, or clarify the provenance of the object," the document said.
The trust, which governs museums including the Getty Center in Los Angeles and the Getty Villa in Malibu, has been under intense scrutiny in recent years.
Marion True, former antiquities curator for the J. Paul Getty Museum, is on trial in Rome accused of trafficking in looted artifacts. The Greek and Italian governments have claimed the Getty museum bought ancient artworks that were smuggled out of those countries and are aggressively seeking to get them back.
The attorney general's investigation has found charitable funds given to the trust were improperly used to pay for former trust Chief Executive Barry Munitz's lavish trips and to buy artwork for retiring trustees.
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On the Net:
Getty Trust, http://www.getty.edu
