"No one is more skeptical than I am," said Anderson, who is trying to unseat Utah County Commissioner Jerry Grover in the June 27 primary. "I'm telling you there is no 't' that is not crossed; there's no 'i' that is not dotted. I am so careful now. I'm the guy you want watching the henhouse . . . because I know how the chickens get out."
Anderson, then a commissioner and chairman of the board that supervised Timpanogos Mental Health, did not win any watchdog awards in the state auditor's 1988 report.
"The board failed its charge by not asking hard questions and requiring information on the financial activities of the center," investigators stated.
Although three officials of the mental-health center did prison time for diverting funds to personal-service contracts, board members were not implicated in the headline-grabbing scandal. Anderson says the perpetrators not only fooled the board, but also seasoned investigators. In fact, he takes credit for uncovering the scam by pressing for more answers and probes.
"I would not do anything differently," Anderson said.
Former Utah County Commissioner Malcolm Beck saw things differently years ago, when he pored over the minutes of the health board's meetings.
"Most of the time, no board members were actually present at the meetings," recalled Beck, an Anderson supporter. They usually were "only staffed by administrative assistants."
In 1990, the state bar suspended Anderson's law license for a year until he could repay about $125,000 owed to clients. Anderson said his law partner Richard Johnson, whose license had been suspended and was managing the office at the time, was embezzling money with the receptionist from the firm's trust fund containing cash from settlements.
"Insurance companies would pay us the money that would go into my trust account," Anderson recalls. "I'd write a check to my client. Johnson would tear that check up and write a check to himself. He would forge my signature."
Johnson, who later was disbarred, could not be reached for comment.
Grover, who finished second to Anderson at the county GOP convention, declined to comment on his opponent's past troubles.
"I'm running for the office," he said, "not against the other guy."
Anderson noted he and his wife sold a duplex, tapped his retirement funds and "paid back every dime."
Attorney Allen Young, who helped get Anderson reinstated with the bar, recalls Anderson being overwhelmed trying to serve both his and Johnson's clients. He remembers Anderson agreeing to pay back clients for services not rendered. Utah County Sheriff's Capt. Doug Witney, who investigated the embezzlement case, absolves Anderson.
"We had no indication Gary was involved with that or he would have been included in the prosecution," he said.
meddington@sltrib.com
