California fire safety nonprofit is under investigation for potential embezzlement, DA says
Northern California authorities, aided by the state Department of Justice, are investigating whether a Nevada County nonprofit embezzled public funds and misused taxpayers’ dollars, according to the Nevada County District Attorney’s Office.
The Nevada Fire Safe Council bills itself as an organization seeking to make Nevada County safer from destructive wildfires through fire safety projects and related education. It partners with the local fire districts and gets funding from federal and state agencies, according to its website.
The investigation comes as the Nevada County Grand Jury looked into the agency two times in two years. A grand jury report issued April 8 alleged nearly $2 million has “disappeared without explanation” and that there “is no indication the Board of Directors even noticed, much less questioned, those discrepancies.”
Other allegations included the board violating California’s Brown Act, which outlines the requirements public bodies must follow to ensure transparency during hearings. The board also voted to remove its director “without cause or explanation” after the director “voted against approving a pay raise for a staff member,” the report alleged.
Prosecutors said in a news release there have been no arrests and no charges have been filed, but that search warrants have been executed.
“While allegations have been brought forward regarding the misuse of public monies related to the Fire Safe Council and individuals within the organization, it is important to stress that these remain only allegations,” prosecutors said in a news release.
Nevada Fire Safe Council officials in April denied any wrongdoing and said the grand jury does not have authority to investigate nonprofits. And every allegation is false, the fire council said in a statement at the time.
“Every penny” in the fire council’s past and current budget is accounted for, “internally and externally,” the fire council’s news release said.
“Fact-checking potentially slanderous and damaging statements before publishing a flawed public report is the most basic of Grand Jury obligations, and they failed,” the fire council said.
The investigation came to a head after the District Attorney’s Office, the Grass Valley Police Department, the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office and the California Department of Attorney General served search warrants at “various locations where the Nevada County Fire Safe Council operates,” the DA said in this week’s news release.