Housing Agency Records Probed at Board’s Request

IRVINE —  Police are investigating the financial records of a local nonprofit housing agency to determine whether thousands of dollars have been embezzled.

City Manager Paul O. Brady Jr. said Thursday that police began examining the operations of Irvine Temporary Housing Inc. in June at the request of its board of directors. The investigation involves “several thousand dollars,” Brady said, and could result in criminal charges.

Irvine Temporary Housing provides low-cost, short-term housing to families at risk of becoming homeless because of a lost job or other temporary financial problem. The agency is funded by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, the city, the Irvine Co., churches and other private contributors.

Brady said the city will not release details about the investigation until police complete their inquiry. The inquiry has dragged on because of delays in getting access to bank records and other information about the private agency, Brady said.

Margie Wakeham, chairwoman of the Irvine Temporary Housing Board of Directors, said the board asked police to look into the agency in June after it discovered a “problem.”

“We discovered it ourselves, and we disclosed to police what we found,” said Wakeham, who also serves on the Irvine Unified School District Board of Education.

She said police have asked her not to discuss details of potentially illegal activity until they finish their investigation.

Wakeham also would not comment on whether the investigation is related to the board’s dismissal of the housing agency’s executive director, Clyde E. Weinman. She would not reveal why the board fired Weinman in early June, about the same time the investigation was launched.

Weinman, who lives in Lake Forest, did not respond to requests for an interview relayed Thursday through Irvine attorney Cathy Jensen, a friend of his.

Wakeham said police have told her that the investigation could take three more weeks.

While the investigation continues, Irvine is withholding funds from the agency, including $406,000 which the City Council authorized this year for the agency to buy condominiums. Wakeham said the money was intended to purchase up to four condominiums, which would be added to the two converted farmhouses the agency owns, and 10 apartments and condominiums it now rents.

The agency currently houses about 45 financially troubled families a year until they can get back on their feet, Wakeham said. The agency also provides job counseling, food and other services to enable a family to save enough money to rent an apartment.

Former agency board member Ruth Fassett has been appointed interim executive director, Wakeham said.

“The organization is really quite strong,” Wakeham said. “This has been a big lump in the road for us, but we think we’ll survive it and be better for it.”