Well-known businessman leaves Savannah Airport Commission after alleged misuse of credit card

From the Savannah Business Journal’s Savannah Airport Commission removes Sylvester Formey for making more than $13,000 in unapproved personal charges on credit card:

Longtime Savannah Airport Commission Chairman and Savannah businessman Sylvester Formey has been removed as Chairman, and is resigning his position on the Commission – expected to be received today at City Hall – for charging more than $13,000 in personal expenses to a credit card issued to him by the Airport administration for commission-related travel expenses.

The Savannah Business Journal has confirmed that the charges go back for more than 12 months, and were caught by an airport administration employee. […]

“What it looks like happened is, in the beginning he was making restitution on a monthly basis, but then he stopped, stopped making monthly restitution… it got behind But then you start drilling down: he wasn’t traveling then, he didn’t have a meeting that date … ” [Savannah airport director Greg] Kelly summarized, in explaining the staff’s review. The charges were for items such as gas and groceries.

Formey is also part owner of the affordable housing project Sustainable Fellwood (when alderman Van Johnson was unhappy with the handling of major leak at the complex, he emailed Formey). He is also a partner of Savannah alderman Estella Shabazz in Vanguard, which is involved with Parsons, Inc., which provides program management services to the Savannah-Chatham public schools. And he is secretary/treasurer of the World Trade Center Savannah.

Having lived in Savannah for 20 years, I’m no longer surprised by the fact that the same names show up on one prominent board after another, but it sure feels like time to shake things up. Even when the board members are transparently honest, the overlapping interests smack of cronyism.

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