There are nonprofits out there doing amazing work. The work that they do is largely kept afloat by donations, which are hard to secure when potential donors are worried that their cash will be used for reasons other than what they were told. When donors sent their money to H Street Community Development Corporation, chances are lining the executive director’s pockets weren’t at the top of their to-do list. Unfortunately, former director Kenneth Brewer Sr. decided to give himself several six-figure bonuses over the span of a couple years. The Board, which was not told about his self-administered bumps in pay, sued him for misappropriation of funds back in 2024. After years in court, the money will find its way back to the community it was meant to help. WTOP has coverage:
A D.C. Superior Court Judge has ordered the former executive director of the nonprofit H Street Community Development Corporation to repay more than $1 million that authorities say was misused. The D.C. Attorney General’s Office lawsuit against Kenneth Brewer Sr., who served as HSCDC’s executive director from 2010 until 2023, routed $1.225 million through a related subsidiary and used it to pay his own annual bonuses.
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“Particularly at a time when District residents are facing serious financial challenges, my office will not allow nonprofit executives to exploit their positions of power to line their own pockets with charitable funds,” Attorney General Brian Schwalb said in a news release.
Look, if you want to appropriate an abnormal amount of the funds trusted to your leadership, you have to be Elon Musk just like everyone else. Once the money is back in HSCDC’s hands, the $1.225M will go toward its original purpose — aiding affordable housing and local business development.
Stories like these benefit nonprofits in the long run. As long as our legal system isn’t just Trump cronies in different hats, courts act as a fail safe to make sure that donor dollars go where they are supposed to. Unless, of course, the legal consequences of agreements mean that donated dollars go against the wishes of the donor.
Congrats to HSCDC and the community they serve on the million-dollar outcome!
Judge Orders Former DC Nonprofit Chief To Return Over $1M [WTOP]
Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord™ in the Facebook group Law School Memes for Edgy T14s . He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boat builder who is learning to swim and is interested in rhetoric, Spinozists and humor. Getting back in to cycling wouldn’t hurt either. You can reach him by email at christopherrashadwilliams@gmail.com and by Tweet/Bluesky at @WritesForRent.
The post D.C. Judge Orders Former Nonprofit Executive Director To Pay Back $1M appeared first on Above the Law.
There are nonprofits out there doing amazing work. The work that they do is largely kept afloat by donations, which are hard to secure when potential donors are worried that their cash will be used for reasons other than what they were told. When donors sent their money to H Street Community Development Corporation, chances are lining the executive director’s pockets weren’t at the top of their to-do list. Unfortunately, former director Kenneth Brewer Sr. decided to give himself several six-figure bonuses over the span of a couple years. The Board, which was not told about his self-administered bumps in pay, sued him for misappropriation of funds back in 2024. After years in court, the money will find its way back to the community it was meant to help. WTOP has coverage:
A D.C. Superior Court Judge has ordered the former executive director of the nonprofit H Street Community Development Corporation to repay more than $1 million that authorities say was misused. The D.C. Attorney General’s Office lawsuit against Kenneth Brewer Sr., who served as HSCDC’s executive director from 2010 until 2023, routed $1.225 million through a related subsidiary and used it to pay his own annual bonuses.
…
“Particularly at a time when District residents are facing serious financial challenges, my office will not allow nonprofit executives to exploit their positions of power to line their own pockets with charitable funds,” Attorney General Brian Schwalb said in a news release.
Look, if you want to appropriate an abnormal amount of the funds trusted to your leadership, you have to be Elon Musk just like everyone else. Once the money is back in HSCDC’s hands, the $1.225M will go toward its original purpose — aiding affordable housing and local business development.
Stories like these benefit nonprofits in the long run. As long as our legal system isn’t just Trump cronies in different hats, courts act as a fail safe to make sure that donor dollars go where they are supposed to. Unless, of course, the legal consequences of agreements mean that donated dollars go against the wishes of the donor.
Congrats to HSCDC and the community they serve on the million-dollar outcome!
Judge Orders Former DC Nonprofit Chief To Return Over $1M [WTOP]
Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord™ in the Facebook group Law School Memes for Edgy T14s . He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boat builder who is learning to swim and is interested in rhetoric, Spinozists and humor. Getting back in to cycling wouldn’t hurt either. You can reach him by email at christopherrashadwilliams@gmail.com and by Tweet/Bluesky at @WritesForRent.
The post D.C. Judge Orders Former Nonprofit Executive Director To Pay Back $1M appeared first on Above the Law.
