Former San Francisco nonprofit CEO charged with misappropriating $1.2 million in public funds
By Tim Fang
The former head of a San Francisco-based nonprofit providing services to the homeless has been charged with nine felonies for allegedly stealing and misappropriating more than $1 million in public funds, prosecutors said.
District Attorney Brooke Jenkins’ office announced Monday that charges were filed against 71-year-old Gwendolyn Westbrook, the former CEO of the United Council for Human Services (UCHS). Westbrook was charged following an investigation by the District Attorney’s Public Integrity Task Force.
“Ms. Westbrook is accused of unlawfully misappropriating public money and grant funds on behalf of UCHS, while exercising near-exclusive financial control over the organization,” the DA’s office said in a statement.
Prosecutors charged Westbrook for one count of misappropriation, three counts of grand theft, one count of presenting a false invoice for payment and four counts of filing false California tax returns.
Court documents allege Westbrook misappropriated more than $1.2 million in public funds from the nonprofit’s accounts to herself. Westbrook allegedly used a combination of undocumented cash withdrawals, self-issued payments and fraudulent reimbursement practices between 2019 and 2023.
Prosecutors said additional large sums withdrawn from the group’s accounts remain unaccounted for.
Westbrook is also accused of filing false tax returns for tax years 2020 through 2023.
According to Jenkins’ office, Westbrook is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday at the Hall of Justice.
