Westbrook allegedly used the money to purchase vehicles and jewelry, and pay for family members’ weddings and an in vitro fertilization procedure.
The former CEO of a San Francisco-based homelessness nonprofit was charged Monday with nine felony counts after allegedly misappropriating more than $1.2 million in public funds.
Gwendolyn Westbrook, 71, is the former CEO of the United Council of Human Services. Charges against Westbrook include misappropriation of public funds, grand theft, and filing four years of false tax returns.
According to prosecutors, Westbrook misappropriated the $1.2 million through unauthorized payments to herself, improper cash withdrawals, and fraudulent reimbursements from 2019 to 2023. Prosecutors also claim Westbrook directly stole $91,000 from the United Council of Human Services. Court documents show that other large amounts of money are also missing from UCHS accounts.
The nonprofit has long faced scrutiny for its practices.
A 2022 audit by the city controller’s office found deeper issues with the group. UCHS, which had received close to $28 million in city funds, failed to place tenants in appropriate housing, failed to accurately calculate rent prices, and disregarded required hiring processes.
Following the audit, City Attorney David Chiu and former City Controller Ben Rosenfield sent a letter to the FBI and the district attorney’s office, urging the groups to investigate UCHS.
“Gwendolyn Westbrook enriched herself and misappropriated millions of dollars in public funding meant to benefit the community,” Chiu said in a statement at the time. “We are grateful the district attorney accepted our referral, and the White Collar Crime Division conducted a thorough investigation leading to these charges.”
Not long after, Westbrook admitted in an interview to giving shelter space to family and friends. Following her admission, the state revoked UCHS’s charity status, making the group ineligible to receive public funds.
A 2023 lawsuit filed by a former UCHS employee, Noel Robinson, revealed that Westbrook allegedly admitted to staff many of her extravagant purchases.
Alleged purchases include vehicles for herself and family friends, expensive jewelry, payments to family members for their personal weddings, as well as money to pay for in vitro fertilization procedures for a family member.
Westbrook was booked into the county jail on Friday, but is no longer in custody. Her arraignment is scheduled for Tuesday afternoon.
The state of California spent $24 billion from 2019 to 2024 to address homelessness but officials are unsure exactly how the money was spent, according to a state audit released last year, which found that no systems were in place to track expenditures. Over the five-year period covered by the audit, California’s homeless population grew by 20 percent, from 151,278 in 2019 to 181,399 in 2023.