The former director of a San Francisco nonprofit was arrested Tuesday and charged with 34 felony counts for alleged theft and misuse of taxpayer funds, according to recent news reports. press release From the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office.
Kayla Worthy, 49, was executive director of SF SAFE, an organization founded in 1976 to help local police departments with crime prevention and public safety services. WebsiteIn January, SF SAFE fired Worthy and suspended operations after allegations that the director had squandered all of the nonprofit’s assets.
“It has deprived the San Francisco community of a valuable service and exploited SF GATE’s employees and nonprofit partners.”
According to a press release from the District Attorney’s Office, Worthy faces charges related to “embezzlement of public funds, submitting fraudulent invoices to city departments, theft from San Francisco Safe, employee wage theft and failure to pay employee taxes withheld, and writing insufficient funds checks to defraud banks.”
“In total, Mr. Worthy is accused of misappropriating more than $700,000 during his tenure at SF SAFE,” the office added.
Although the organization had received millions of dollars in public and private funding, Worthy’s “theft and mismanagement” caused the nonprofit to lose all of its assets and be forced to close.
Worthy was accused of using a total of $98,000 of the nonprofit’s funds for “personal” purposes, including to pay her landlord and hire an in-home caregiver for her parents.
“The affidavit further details how SF SAFE funds were depleted and Worthy had stopped paying employee taxes, yet he continued to spend SF SAFE funds lavishly on parties, events, furniture, interior designers and travel,” the district attorney’s office said.
As a result, Worthy was charged with wage theft in the amount of $80,000.
In October 2023, Worthy allegedly threw an expensive party using SF Safe funds, spending $20,000 on desserts, $15,000 on food trucks, $20,000 on an event planner, $7,000 on “mobile luxury restrooms,” and $19,000 on a petting zoo, carnival games and other party activities.
Worthy allegedly spent another $56,000 on catering and event planners for San Francisco Safe’s holiday party, as well as $350,000 on “luxury gift boxes” in 2022 and 2023.
A spokesperson for the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office said, “Kayla Worthy not only defrauded the San Francisco community of valuable services, but she also exploited SF GATE employees and our nonprofit partners. We work diligently to root out this type of corruption and fully support the District Attorney’s actions to ensure accountability.”
San Francisco Police Chrono 4“The San Francisco Police Department thanks the District Attorney’s Office for their thorough investigation and diligent work on this case.”
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