SAN FRANCISCO, CA \u2014 A former CEO is being accused of embezzling more than a million dollars from a San Francisco-based homelessness nonprofit. <\/p>\n
Gwendolyn Westbrook, 71, was charged this week with nine felonies: four counts of filing false California tax returns, three counts of grand theft and one count each of misappropriation of public funds and presenting a false invoice for payment, according to the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office.<\/p>\n
Prosecutors say that between 2019 and 2023, while serving as the CEO of United Council for Human Services, Westbrook stole $91,000 and misappropriated another $1.2 million in public funds into her own bank account. She also filed false tax returns between 2020 and 2023, authorities said.: <\/p>\n
SEE ALSO: Former South Bay Congressional Candidate Sentenced To Prison For Fraud<\/a><\/p>\n In the court documents filed this month, Westbrook is accused of buying luxury vehicles and making purchases at high-end retailers like Louis Vuitton and Neiman Marcus with the nonprofit\u2019s money. She led the organization, which ran a soup kitchen and collected millions in city contracts to shelter the homeless, for nearly two decades before her dismissal in 2023.<\/p>\n “Gwendolyn Westbrook enriched herself and misappropriated millions of dollars in public funding meant to benefit the community,” City Attorney David Chiu said, according to KQED<\/a>. Chiu’s office tipped off the district attorney<\/a> and the FBI to allegations of financial mismanagement at UCHS in 2022. <\/p>\n