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Homeless nonprofit dealing with allegations
One employee with a St. Paul nonprofit that helps support homeless youth has been accused of misspending program funds. FOX 9’s Rose Schmidt has the details.
ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - A St. Paul nonprofit that helps support homeless youth has turned in one of its former employees, accusing the woman of misspending its money. The money is meant to help children who are homeless with rental assistance.
Court documents show, Face to Face, a nonprofit that helps youth who are experiencing homelessness with rent and medical care, began internally investigating employees after noticing possible fraud.
The nonprofit’s former manager of youth homeless programs, 50-year-old Charlita Williamson-Prokop from St. Paul, is now charged with nine counts of felony theft by swindle. An arrest warrant has been issued, but she was not currently in custody as of 3 p.m. Tuesday.
Charging documents show the nonprofit learned Williamson was misusing rental assistance payments, so nonprofit leaders reported the information to St. Paul police and an investigation began.
Police focused their investigation on people who received payments from Face to Face as fake landlords. Officers discovered the fake landlords benefited from the scheme, along with Williamson and other employees of Face to Face, who have since ended their employment.
Documents show when Williamson was hired in 2021, her job was to review applications and decide whether to approve a young client for rental assistance. Ramsey County prosecutors say she hired family and friends to act as case managers to help her get away with fraud. For example, she hired her sister, then, the sister's husband received more than $5,000 as a fake landlord. Williamson also allegedly listed her two nephews as clients who needed help with rent when, in fact, both nephews actually lived out of state.
Prosecutors say another brother-in-law also posed as a landlord and was paid more than $11,000. Williamson and her brother-in-law allegedly used the money to buy a motorcycle.
Finally, police say Williamson used rental assistance payments to pay for an apartment where she, in fact, lived. Documents show Williamson listed her great niece as a fake client who was supposedly living at the apartment in St. Paul.
Court documents list multiple properties where young clients were supposedly living, but those homeowners told police they had no tenants by those names. One of the property owners told FOX 9 he is "concerned" that his address has been used falsely as part of the alleged scheme.
On Tuesday, a spokesperson for Face to Face told FOX 9 the leaders of the nonprofit had just received the charging documents and may have more to share at a later date. The spokesperson confirmed Williamson has not been employed at the nonprofit since 2021.
FOX 9’s attempts to contact Williamson for comment Tuesday were unsuccessful.