Gwen Westbrook, the former CEO of the United Council of Human Services, arrives at the Hall of Justice in San Francisco on Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026.
Benjamin Fanjoy/For the S.F. Chronicle
The former chief executive of a major San Francisco homeless services provider is facing charges for allegedly misappropriating at least $1.2 million in public funds, some of which appeared to bankroll her luxury lifestyle, prosecutors said Monday.
Gwendolyn Westbrook, the former CEO of the United Council of Human Services, withdrew large sums of cash and paid herself a hidden second salary from the nonprofit’s publicly funded bank accounts between 2019 and 2023, the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office alleged in court records.
She also allegedly bought luxury vehicles and jewelry, and made purchases at Louis Vuitton and Neiman Marcus — spending that “far exceeded her salary.”
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Westbrook, whose nonprofit ran a Bayview soup kitchen and collected millions in city contracts to shelter the homeless, appeared in court for the first time Tuesday on nine felony charges of misappropriation of public funds, grand theft, presenting a false invoice and filing false state tax returns. She did not enter a plea and declined to comment.
Westbrook, 71, led the United Council of Human Services for nearly two decades before her dismissal in 2023 as accusations of financial mismanagement mounted against her organization.
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The charges are the latest in a long history of trouble for Westbrook and the UCHS that traces back to 1997, when she was accused of stealing thousands of dollars from a cash box at a parking lot owned by her employer — the San Francisco Port. In 2015, regulators in Richmond found unsanctioned blackjack tables in the back of a charity bingo hall that the nonprofit operated.
The charges cap off a yearslong investigation by the district attorney’s office that involved more than 20 search warrants and an extensive review of bank and other financial records, court records show. The probe began after city auditors, concerned about the nonprofit’s poor accounting practices, asked both the district attorney and the FBI to investigate in November 2022.
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At the time, the nonprofit controlled nearly $28 million in city contracts largely to provide housing and shelter to homeless people.
The district attorney found that Westbrook’s alleged impropriety went far beyond “mere mismanagement or poor bookkeeping.”
Westbrook transferred more than $1.2 million in public funds from the nonprofit’s bank accounts to her own, court records show. While some of the money was for salary and reimbursements, prosecutors said that about $1 million remained unaccounted for.
Gwen Westbrook, the former CEO of the United Council of Human Services, departs the Hall of Justice in San Francisco on Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026.
Benjamin Fanjoy/For the S.F. Chronicle
Investigators found that Westbrook paid and reimbursed herself without enough documentation or oversight, commingled her own money with public funds, submitted false reimbursement claims and repeatedly withdrew large amounts of cash to “hinder tracing.”
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One part of the probe examined Westbrook’s income, finding that she was paying herself a “hidden ‘double salary.’”
Westbrook was paid some $467,000 from 2019 to 2022 through an “unusual” compensation method, according to the district attorney. It involved UCHS’ fiscal sponsor, Heluna Health, depositing money into the nonprofit’s bank account that Westbrook then transferred to her own.
She also paid herself at least another $387,000 in salary checks from the nonprofit’s bank account between 2019 and 2023 without anyone else from the organization or its board signing the checks, court records show.
Investigators found that the second salary appeared to be “totally undocumented” and unaudited.
Another part of the investigation examined her alleged misappropriation of funds through cash withdrawals.
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The DA found that she misappropriated at least $897,000 of the $2.9 million in cash that she withdrew from the nonprofit’s bank accounts between 2019 and 2023 by depositing the funds in her own bank accounts.
While investigators found evidence that she used some $281,000 of the cash she withdrew for legitimate purchases, almost $1.4 million “was not deposited into any account belonging to Westbrook and is simply missing,” court records show.
A review of her personal bank account statements showed Westbrook had made repeated luxury purchases, mortgage payments and college tuition payments “consistent with Westbrook simply spending some of the ‘missing’ UCHS money on her personal lifestyle.”
The flagged payments included more than $100,000 over three years to a Concord jewelry store owned by two members of the nonprofit’s board, including its treasurer, according to court records.
On top of misappropriating funds, Westbrook is also accused of embezzling at least $91,000 from her former nonprofit or the city through various schemes, which included her receiving reimbursements for expenses that the nonprofit had already covered.
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She also allegedly underreported her taxes.
San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu, whose office referred the case to the district attorney, said he was grateful that prosecutors took action.
“Gwendolyn Westbrook enriched herself and misappropriated millions of dollars in public funding meant to benefit the community,” he said.
Westbrook was booked into county jail Friday and was later released. She is due back in court March 9 for arraignment.