Following a months-long investigation, the former executive director of a now-disbanded San Francisco nonprofit was arrested Tuesday on dozens of felony charges for allegedly misusing more than $700,000 in public funds, the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office announced.
Kayla Worthy, of Richmond, California, was charged with embezzlement of public funds, grand theft by embezzlement, filing false invoices, wage theft and writing forged checks while serving as president of SF SAFE, a 48-year-old nonprofit organization that partners with the San Francisco Police Department to make the city safer and more crime-free, prosecutors said.
Prosecutor’s Office Investigators concluded that an audit by the San Francisco Office of the Comptroller found that Worthy misused at least $80,000 in San Francisco police grant funds for expenses including luxury gift boxes, trips to Lake Tahoe, parking fees and permits, and ride-hailing services.
The lawsuit also alleges that Worthy spent about $56,000 of the nonprofit’s funds on holiday parties.
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SF SAFE Director Kayla Worthy (center) was fired amid allegations of misappropriation of funds from the San Francisco nonprofit, which provides community support and crime prevention education. (KTVU)
David Gellman, a former prosecutor and CEO and founder of the Gellman Law Firm, told Fox News Digital that there are several possibilities in the case.
“There are a couple of issues here: the criminal aspect and whether she has already been charged. If she has been charged, I wouldn’t be surprised if the federal government gets involved because she received funds from various federal agencies,” Gelman said. “That’s a whole other story and the consequences would be much more severe if the federal government gets involved.”
Gelman said he believes Worthy was able to get away with embezzlement and fraud for so many years because he was executive director of the foundation and therefore not accountable.
“She’s the executive director, she’s the head of this organization, but there’s no one overseeing it. This is very shocking and just sad. There needs to be an oversight body, a board. This is a complete misuse of funds and total incompetence,” Gelman said.
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SF SAFE aimed to increase safety and crime prevention in San Francisco through community organizing. (Getty Images)
Worthy, who was hired in 2018, is accused of stealing and using more than $100,000 in SF SAFE funds for his own personal use during his tenure at the nonprofit.
Gelman said the unfortunate thing about the situation is that charities and people who need the funds are suffering.
“Charities and individuals who could have really benefited from this funding didn’t receive it. They were all misled in this fiasco. There are no winners. It’s a terrible situation across the board,” Gelman said.
Worthy was fired amid allegations of theft and mismanagement, and the nonprofit abruptly closed in January 2024 with no assets.
Criminal defense attorney Nicole Castronovo also spoke to Fox News Digital and echoed Gelmen’s feelings about the case.
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The San Francisco skyline as seen from Ina Coolbrith Park. (iStock)
“This is a well-established charity. The San Francisco Police Department was involved. This charity has great legitimacy, it’s been operating for decades and in a city like San Francisco, it desperately needed the funding. It’s unfortunate to see something like this happen,” Castronovo said.
According to the complaint, Worthy stopped paying payroll taxes for 27 employees from September 2023 until the nonprofit closed in January 2024. Over a four-month period, the alleged payroll thefts totaled about $80,000, prosecutors said. Worthy also received more than $500,000 in public funds from the city’s Department of Economic and Workforce Development but allegedly never paid employees of partner organizations.
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“It takes one bad guy to screw everyone over and at the end of the day, the people who are hurt the most in all of this are the people who really need the money. They’ll never fully recover. This money was supposed to go to good people. Good people donated and it all ended up in the hands of the bad guys, the scammers,” Gelman said.
Prosecutors say the investigation is ongoing and they are asking anyone with information to contact the Public Integrity Task Force tip line at 628-652-4444.
