Money museum chief put on leave

Christopher Cipoletti was placed on paid administrative leave Sunday from his job as executive director of the American Numismatic Association, based in Colorado Springs.

The organization’s newly elected board of governors voted unanimously on the action during the association’s 116th convention last week in Milwaukee.

Cipoletti has been removed from his daily duties of the 32,000-member federally chartered nonprofit organization, which promotes studying and collecting money. Cipoletti now will focus on a lawsuit scheduled to go to trial in 4th Judicial District Court on Sept. 25, said Barry Stuppler. Stuppler, a Woodland Hills, Calif., resident, took over as the association’s board president three days ago.

“Being free of those duties gives him the opportunity to focus on the lawsuit. We consider it important litigation, and we have a substantial amount of concern over it,” Stuppler said Monday.

In the lawsuit, Cipoletti accuses four former association employees of conspiracy, defamation of character and theft of business property, among other claims. Cipoletti is a coplaintiff with the numismatic association in the civil lawsuit, and the association is paying legal fees. Cipoletti said he is unsure how much money has been spent on legal fees to date.

Cipoletti said Monday that the board’s decision to allow him to concentrate on the lawsuit is a show of support.

“It’s more of a special assignment — I’ll be focusing on the lawsuit, reviewing materials and writing reports about status issues, which will be a full-time endeavor,” Cipoletti said.

He is required to report his progress to the board on Sept. 14.

Former board president Kenneth Hallenbeck of Hallenbeck Coin Gallery Inc. of Colorado Springs has been named acting executive director of the organization.

Operating deficits led the board to also appoint an audit committee to conduct a preliminary financial review to determine whether an audit is needed. The independent certified public accounting firm has 60 days to report its findings to the board.

“We’re not sure we’ll need an audit, but we’ve been running operational deficit budgets for a while, and there was some concern from members,” Stuppler said.

The association has posted deficits in its four most recent fiscal years, including its largest deficit, about $1 million, for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2006.