SLOC finance chief tells of big cash gifts

The finance director of Salt Lake's Olympic bid testified Wednesday that he was ordered by Tom Welch to hand over tens of thousands of dollars to members of the International Olympic Committee.

Rod Hamson, who took over the books for the bid committee shortly after signing on as a volunteer in 1989 while he was still in college, said the payments to IOC members were hidden in the budget, sometimes as travel costs for trips that may never have been taken.

Hamson is the second witness to take the stand in the federal government's case against Welch and Dave Johnson. The bid leaders are on trial on fraud, conspiracy and racketeering in connection with the more than $1 million in cash and gifts given to the IOC.

Prosecutor Richard Wiedis is using Hamson to help establish a crucial part of the government's case, that Welch and Johnson deceived the political and community leaders who oversaw the bid effort about a "sophisticated campaign of bribery."

Hamson's testimony will continue Thursday, when he is expected to be cross-examined by the defense.

During his nearly five hours on the stand Wednesday, jurors were shown copies of check after check written to IOC members, including Jean-Claude Ganga of the Congo Republic, Charles Mukora of Kenya and the late Rene Essomba of Cameroon. Ganga and Mukora were ousted by the IOC.

Welch asked for the checks, Hamson testified, even though no receipts, airline tickets or any other documentation were offered to justify the expenditure. Hamson also said Welch spelled out which bid committee account should be charged.

Concerns were raised, Hamson said, about the amount of money being spent to bring IOC members to Salt Lake City and the "lavish treatment" they were getting. Banker Spence Eccles, a member of the bid's executive committee, was the "most vocal," he said.

The first time auditors questioned a check being issued without documentation, in 1992, Hamson said he went to a travel agent who "created" an itinerary for the unnamed IOC member's alleged trip.

Later, auditors were told that "it was potentially embarrassing" for Welch and Johnson to ask IOC members to produce receipts, Hamson said. "The auditors stopped looking," he said, after Welch personally explained the situation.