D.C. United Way Leader Sentenced to Jail Time

A federal judge last week ordered Oral Suer, former chief executive of the United Way of the National Capital Area, in Washington, to serve 27 months in jail -- the maximum sentence -- for his role in a financial scandal that rocked the charity.

In March, Mr. Suer pleaded guilty to two felony charges that he stole about $500,000 from the organization during his 27-year tenure. He admitted to receiving excessive pension payments, pocketing unreimbursed cash advances, and charging the organization for fraudulent business expenses, including bowling equipment and visits to see his children when they were attending college.

At a hearing in Alexandria, Va., U.S. District Judge Gerald Bruce Lee ordered Mr. Suer to pay $497,000 in restitution for the thefts. After serving his jail sentence, Mr. Suer, 69, could be deported to his native Turkey because he is not a U.S. citizen and people found guilty of crimes are automatically deported.

Faces Civil Lawsuits

The judge's ruling disturbed officials at the United Way of the National Capital Area, who contend that the money Mr. Suer was ordered to return represents far less than what he stole from the organization, according to Charles W. Anderson, chief executive of the United Way of Washington.

Mr. Anderson cited an audit, released in August, that said that Mr. Suer, who served as chief executive from 1974 to 2002, received $2.4-million more than his approved compensation and apparently paid back less than half that sum.

Mr. Suer still faces a civil lawsuit filed by the United Way of the National Capital Area that seeks the repayment of $230,000 in excessive pension payments he allegedly stole from the group. A hearing date on the lawsuit is scheduled for June 9. Mr. Suer's lawyer, Graeme W. Bush, did not respond to a Chronicle request for comment on any of the legal actions involving his client.

The United Way of the National Capital Area also intends to seek the repayment of another $1.4-million that Mr. Suer allegedly stole from the organization. A lawsuit the group filed last year seeking damages in that amount was dropped earlier this year after Mr. Suer refused to answer questions about his actions as head of the organization..

Since news reports about Mr. Suer's actions started appearing in 2002, the United Way of Washington has suffered incalculable harm, Mr. Anderson said. During the organization's 2003-4 fund-raising campaign, private donations shrank to $38-million; in 2001, the group raised more than $90-million. The organization, which formerly employed about 90 people, now has 35 employees. And it no longer runs the on-the-job solicitation campaign for federal employees.

Mr. Anderson, who took over Washington's United Way a year ago, said that his organization feels repercussions every day from what Mr. Suer did -- but that a sense of relief spread through the group's offices after the sentencing was announced.

"This really dark chapter in our history is beginning to become part of the past," he said. "We're ready to get on with providing funding for charities that need us."