A former Marin County official was charged Wednesday within the alleged theft of $1.9 million from the county’s rental help program.
Eric Faulks, who helped run this system, might face a state jail time period on fees of embezzling public funds, coming into a pc system with the intent to defraud and grand theft, county officers introduced.
“I've no remark right now,” Faulks mentioned when reached by telephone. He referred inquiries to his legal professional, Daniel Vaswani, who couldn't be reached for remark.
This system gives funds for unpaid lease due to COVID-19-related hardships. Tenants and landlords apply collectively for the cash, and funds are made on to landlords in an effort to stop evictions.
Assistant County Administrator Angela Nicholson mentioned the county first grew to become conscious of a doable drawback with this system in June, when an out-of-state financial institution notified this system supplier, Group Motion Marin, of suspicious transactions.
“It was the variety of transactions that was coming into the financial institution from out of state,” Nicholson mentioned. “I feel multiple state was concerned, however I don’t know which states.”
Nicholson mentioned a majority of the $1.9 million stolen was frozen and is predicted to be recovered.
“The precise greenback quantity I don’t know,” she mentioned. “They’re nonetheless determining how a lot.”
Nicholson mentioned that instantly after being contacted, the county notified state and federal officers and turned the matter over to Marin County District Legal professional Lori Frugoli.
“A felony case has been filed on this matter, and subsequently we is not going to be making any statements relating to the info or circumstances of the case, aside from these made in courtroom,” Frugoli mentioned Wednesday.
In response to the county’s assertion, district legal professional investigators found that “Faulks used his place with the county to approve transactions involving fraudulent landlord purposes.”
Nicholson mentioned Faulks resigned on Nov. 11 quickly after a search warrant was executed of his private property.
Nicholson mentioned the district legal professional’s workplace has not shared any info relating to the outcomes of the search.
Faulks, a Solano County resident, was working as an employment growth counselor when he was quickly reassigned to assist handle the rental help program. The county employed him in February 2020.
Previous to becoming a member of the county, Faulks spent about three years working at a nonprofit Richmond, in accordance with his LinkedIn webpage. The web page mentions that Faulks has lectured San Quentin inmates on monetary literacy.
Nicholson mentioned, “From the second that we have been notified in June, we created further necessities within the rental help program to make sure that fraud wouldn’t occur once more.”
Marin tenants and landlords have complained concerning the tempo at which purposes for rental help have been processed by the county. Nicholson mentioned the embezzlement probe “slowed it down some.”
“We did should hit pause a few instances,” Nicholson mentioned. “However we have been guaranteeing the cash was entering into the palms of the individuals who wanted it probably the most.”
One issue which may have made embezzlement simpler is that the federal authorities permits “self-attestation” when making use of for rental help. Self-attestation permits support recipients to ensure the reality of sure info beneath penalty of perjury, in lieu of offering documentation.
Now, Nicholson mentioned, “We’re ensuring that the self-attestation is backed up with documentation.”
The county has additionally begun conducting background checks on anyone working for this system.
“We're doing so many checks,” Nicholson mentioned, “we're assured there isn't a fraud persevering with in this system.”
Final month, Deputy County Administrator Hyacinth Hinojosa advised the Board of Supervisors that the county had distributed $11 million in federal rental help. Hinojosa mentioned the help benefitted 856 Marin households, and the county had an extra $22.3 million left to offer out.