Loading...

Social Service NPO Exec Sentenced For Embezzlement
Social Service NPO Exec Sentenced For Embezzlement

Lashante Boyd, a former employee of social services nonprofit Center Point, San Rafael, Calif., was sentenced to three years and four months in state prison stemming from embezzlement charges, according to an announcement from California Attorney General Rob Bonta.

According to Bonta’s statement, from December 2016 through April 2019 Boyd embezzled more than $600,000 from Center Point, a nonprofit that provides educational, housing, medical, psychological, rehabilitation, social and vocational services to people facing homelessness, poverty, substance abuse and unemployment. She accomplished the theft by stealing checks from her colleagues’ desks which were made payable to the organization. Boyd then deposited them into bank accounts she controlled, according to Bonta’s statement, some 30 checks with an aggregate value of $651,001.59.

Boyd pled guilty to two counts of grand theft, and one aggravated white-collar enhancement for theft over $500,000 in Marin County Superior Court. In addition to her prison sentence, she was ordered to pay $651,001.59 in restitution to Center Point.

“When you steal from a nonprofit, you are really stealing from the individuals and families who rely on that organization’s services,” Bonta said in the statement. “Using your position as an employee of an organization to embezzle funds meant to assist vulnerable people in your community is an abuse of power, and those who commit these offenses must be held accountable.”

The conviction resulted from an investigation by the California Department of Justice’s White Collar Investigation Team and the San Rafael Police Department.

According to a Form 990 on file at GuideStar, Center Point had total revenue of more than $24.5 million, net revenue of $532,154 and net assets of just under $9.5 million for the year ended June 30, 2019, which was the most recent on file. The organization’s total revenue had dropped from $32 million the previous year, but its net revenue was up from $64,745 and its net assets rose from $8.9 million during that year.