It is being reported that a Southern California nonprofit based in Long Beach, California, is facing state scrutiny for allegedly misappropriating $11 million in state funds.
The Foodbank of Southern California has been around for five decades and is being accused of misspending the state funds on a lavish lifestyle, including trips to Las Vegas, cars, jewelry and issuing funds to members of its board of directors.
“For at least the last decade, the Foodbank’s officers, directors, and vendors worked together to divert millions of dollars of state and federal funds away from these most vulnerable communities, into their own pockets,” the complaint states.
The lawsuit names ten current or former board members and two of their family members. The nonprofit has since scrubbed its website of the board members’ names.
Caught in the complaint’s crosshairs is Watts activist “Sweet” Alice Harris, who founded Parents of Watts, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting disadvantaged youth and families in Watts who is listed as a member of its board.
The lawsuit alleges that Harris used her position on the food bank’s board to funnel more than $173,000 in funding to Parents of Watts.
Harris allegedly used her status on the food bank’s board to send $172,896 to the Parents of Watts, according to the complaint. State attorneys also claim that she used the Foodbank of Southern California’s accounts to send donations to Parents of Watts and to buy bicycles, gift cards, suits and turkeys for her social services organization. The civil complaint also outlined a claim that she used the food bank’s accounts to send $2,000 to her family member’s organization, Just Caring for Folks.
Investigators also claimed she hired her granddaughter, Johnetta Woods, for a federally funded position at the food bank. State officials said Woods received regular payments from the nonprofit but did not provide any services.
The state lawsuit outlines allegations that she used her position at the food bank to grant her son-in-law Egerton Forster a spot on the board and to appoint him as the nonprofit’s interim CEO in 2020.
In the ensuing year, Forster allegedly sent $50,000 to his wife’s company, Seek HM1, without board approval and in violation of the nonprofit’s bylaws, according to the complaint. State officials said Forster’s wife, Linda Forster, is Harris’s daughter.
He’s also accused of sending $14,000 to Watts Willowbrook Church, where he held a leadership position, according to state attorneys.
Last June, Harris was honored by Los Angeles Councilman Tim McOsker with a Watts intersection being dedicated in her honor.
In 2015, Harris received a Community Leadership Award from California State University, Dominguez Hills, during its CSUDH Founders Dinner but the announcement has been removed from the school’s website.
Harris has not publicly commented on the matter.