In a letter written in December to the King County Superior Court, a Whitworth alumnus contested a donation to Whitworth that he says former trustee Thomas Delanty made in his name using funds from his stocks.
Joseph Zimmer, a Seattle dentist and ’82 Whitworth alumnus, briefly held a business partnership with Delanty and allowed Delanty to manage his personal finances.
Delanty served on the Board of Trustees for eight years before opting out of reelection in 2005. During his time on the board, he served as chair of the endowment committee.
Less than one year later, he was arrested on theft charges relating to Nancy Huegli, a 92-year-old woman.
In December, a King County Superior Court jury found Delanty guilty of 26 first- and second-degree counts of thefts from Huegli. He was sentenced to five years in prison and reported to the Washington Corrections Center in Shelton, Wash., at the end of January.
After meeting Delanty more than a decade ago, Zimmer agreed to let him serve as his personal accountant.
“During this time he made a contribution to Whitworth College in both of our names with money he appropriated with sale of my stock,” Zimmer wrote in his Dec. 10 letter to the court.
Richard Hansen, Delanty’s attorney, declined to comment.
Zimmer said he contacted the university about the donation prior to the verdict in Delanty’s trial relating to Huegli.
Kristi Burns, vice president for institutional advancement, said the university has not been in contact with Zimmer since the verdict of that trial.
UNIVERSITY'S RESPONSE
Burns said the President’s Cabinet has discussed the situation about the gift Zimmer has disputed.
“We do not have any information in our system that indicates that the gift was made with Dr. Zimmer’s stock,” she said, adding that it would be difficult to substantiate that the funds came from his stocks.
She said donor information is confidential, so the specific amount that was donated cannot be disclosed.
Zimmer said he is disappointed with how Whitworth handled the situation.
“Whitworth operated by the principle that Delanty was innocent until proven guilty,” he said. “They haven’t given me an apology.”
He said he does not have any regrets for speaking out against the university.
“The fact that Whitworth acted like his Wall Street PR firm was tacky and less than honest,” Zimmer said.
Burns said the university would return the money if Zimmer can show that the money came from his stocks.
“If there was proof that his stock was transferred to make a gift to Whitworth, Whitworth would not hesitate to return the funds to Dr. Zimmer if that was his desire,” Burns said.
ZIMMER’S BUSINESS RELATIONSHIP WITH DELANTY
Editor’s note: At press time, The Whitworthian did not have court documents to substantiate all of Zimmer’s claims.
Zimmer said his wife introduced him to Delanty around 1993.
At the time, his wife was working as a dental hygienist and met Delanty as a patient in another office.
“He was a big talker and knew that I was a dentist,” Zimmer said. “He wanted to be introduced to me. He was a patient of mine for a while and ultimately invited me into a business partnership.”
Zimmer said Delanty was known as a portfolio and business manager. Eventually, Delanty asked Zimmer if he wanted to partner with himself and another couple in a strip mall investment.
After agreeing, Zimmer and Delanty were business partners for a brief period and Delanty then offered his services as Zimmer’s accountant.
“He began worming his way into all my financial transactions,” Zimmer said.
When Zimmer bought a home, Delanty took care of the paperwork.
However, Zimmer said Delanty kept filing extensions on his taxes and getting further behind.
“He was supposed to be doing my taxes, but he was too busy traveling the world,” Zimmer said.
Zimmer said he knew Delanty was unreliable, but gave him the benefit of the doubt.
The business relationship between Delanty and Zimmer ended abruptly.
“Everything seemed fishy with my taxes, so I fired him,” he said.
Zimmer separated from his wife in 2001 and said Delanty did everything he could to help Zimmer’s wife throughout the process of the divorce.
“He allied himself with my ex-wife and fabricated tax returns to present to the court saying that I made more money than I actually did,” Zimmer said. “He forged my signatures and valued property at the wrong amount.”
Zimmer said he has been personally impacted by Delanty’s acts, such as the donation to Whitworth using funds from his stocks.
“These and many other acts of wrongdoing contributed greatly to my failed marriage and near bankruptcy at the time,” Zimmer wrote in the letter to the court.
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