Charity must give Aramony his full $4.4 million pension

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- United Way must pay its former president his full $4.4 million pension even though he's serving seven years<br>in prison for cheating the charity out of hundreds of thousands

Thursday, January 6th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- United Way must pay its former president his full $4.4 million pension even though he's serving seven years
in prison for cheating the charity out of hundreds of thousands of dollars, a federal judge has ruled.

William Aramony, 72, was convicted in 1995 of defrauding United Way of about $600,000 to pay for a lavish lifestyle for himself and his girlfriends.

U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin of New York ruled Tuesday that Aramony is entitled to the pension because his executive benefits plan made no provision for cutting his pension if he engaged in criminal activity.

Despite the ruling, the Alexandria-based charity won't have to pay the full amount to Aramony. The judge also ruled that Aramony
owes United Way $2.02 million for salary he received from 1989 to 1992. Aramony has also been ordered to pay a $300,000 fine.

"I am pleased, and so is Bill," said Aramony's attorney Dennis Houdek.

United Way spokesman Anthony DeCristofar said the charity is considering an appeal.

The United Way board had requested a plan from Mutual of America that would have ruled out such benefits if an executive was
convicted of a felony. But the plan that United Way board representative Stephen J. Paulachak eventually signed did not include the "bad boy" clause.

The charity argued that the clause's disappearance was suspect because Paulachak was also convicted of stealing from the organization. The judge said United Way had failed to provide evidence of collusion.