san francisco — The former executive director of a San Francisco homeless services charity will go on trial Tuesday on nine felony charges after prosecutors say she stole more than $1.2 million in public funds intended to keep people off the streets.
Gwendolyn Westbrook, 71, raided the accounts of the United Council for Human Services while having “almost exclusive financial control” of the nonprofit that serves the homeless and low-income, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office on Monday.
“Plaintiffs allege that between 2019 and 2023, Ms. Westbrook engaged in unauthorized self-payments, improper cash withdrawals, and fraudulent payment practices that resulted in the diversion of public funds for personal use,” the statement read.
She faces charges including embezzlement of public funds, grand theft and filing false tax returns in California. Her trial was scheduled for Tuesday afternoon.
Letters were sent to Westbrook and the United Council of Human Services seeking comment on the accusations. An attorney for Westbrook could not be found.
the San Francisco Chronicle She stated that these accusations are the latest in a long history of problems facing Westbrook and the United Council for Human Services. She was accused in 1997 of stealing thousands of dollars from a parking lot cash box owned by the Port of San Francisco, her employer at the time. In 2015, organizers found unauthorized blackjack tables in the back of a charity bingo hall run by the nonprofit, the Chronicle reported.
In court documents filed this month, Westbrook was accused of purchasing luxury cars and making purchases from upscale retailers such as Louis Vuitton and Neiman Marcus with the nonprofit’s money. She led the organization, which ran a soup kitchen and collected millions from city contracts to shelter the homeless, for nearly two decades before being ousted in 2023.
In Los Angeles, CEO of a homeless services charity He faces federal and state fraud charges It’s about using $23 million of taxpayer money to live a luxury lifestyle. Federal prosecutors said last month that Alexander Sofer took money intended to support his nonprofit, Aundant Blessings, to buy a $7 million Los Angeles home, a vacation home in Greece, and a $125,000 Range Rover.
Sofer has been charged federally with wire fraud, and the state charges he faces include felony counts of conflict of interest, providing false evidence and forgery.