Former lead member of Richmond LAND board accused of embezzlement

RICHMOND The former co-chair of the Richmond LAND board has been accused of embezzling up to from the organization according to the nonprofit s executive director Randy Joseph who served as a Richmond LAND board member from to has been accused of signing off on checks to himself worth between about and according to a citizens declaration by Executive Director Princess Robinson In the report Robinson declared she discovered on Sept that Joseph allegedly wrote signed and cashed multiple checks from Richmond LAND s checking account without approval between January and September while acting as board president Robinson who became executive director in late June disclosed she requested that Joseph resign and repay the lost funds instantly after making the alleged discovery A police assessment was also filed and the alleged embezzlement was announced to all required regulatory bodies she added The community disclosure of the alleged financial misdeeds about eight months after they were reportedly discovered allowed the organization time to take appropriate action before making this information widely available Robinson noted As the new Executive Director I believe it is essential to acknowledge this matter and reaffirm our commitment to integrity accountability and long-term sustainability of our organization Robinson disclosed in a message While this has been a demanding chapter for Richmond LAND my focus remains on ensuring accountability learning from past challenges and strengthening our organizational foundation Since taking her role Robinson declared the organization has welcomed a new band of employees dedicated to analyzing and improving our internal systems and implemented a new comprehensive financial procedures with safeguards and processes in place to prevent similar financial misconduct from reoccurring Joseph did not directly respond to a request for comment He has been linked to other Richmond-based group groups As of Monday he was still listed as a squad member for Reimagine Richmond a coalition advocating for alternative approaches to society policing By Tuesday Joseph no longer appeared on the website The organization declined to comment on the statements The Ryse Center a nonprofit providing a variety of youth services and programs did not respond to a request for comment Joseph s LinkedIn states that he s a Housing Justice operation manager there and has worked for the nonprofit for nearly four years Joseph also served on the city s Group Police Review Commission from October to June Lt Donald Patchin ratified a police statement with Richmond LAND listed as the victim was filed with the Richmond Police Department but was unable to provide additional information because the statement is still under study Richmond LAND s Form filed Dec indicates that Joseph was accused of embezzling about that year Those funds had not yet been recouped at the time of filing according to the tax document Joseph first appears in Richmond LAND tax filings in and is listed as a board member who worked about five hours a week and did not receive compensation The same goes for according to that year s Form By Joseph reportedly worked about hours a week and was compensated that year according to Richmond LAND s Form But workloads for almost all board members had jumped that year as staffing had decreased according to Robinson s report and the nonprofit s tax documents Board members Elissa Roy worked about hours a week and was compensated that year and Alex Acuna was paid that year for working about hours a week Board Co-Chair Sasha Graham worked about hours a week and was paid And Board Treasurer Leslie Lindo was paid for an average of about hours of labor a week The only member not compensated was Secretary Regina Celestin Williams who worked about five hours a week Despite a staffing decline the amount of money going toward staff salaries compensation benefits payroll taxes and fees grew substantially between and according to the nonprofit s tax filings In the organization s total revenue was while total expenses were Of those expenses was for compensation that was allocated to two members another was spent on other salaries and wages was spent on employee benefits and went to payroll expenses By the end of Richmond LAND had brought in almost million in total revenue and spent of which went to employee related expenses mostly compensation Fees for services totaled more than in compared to the spent in A vast majority of the Richmond LAND s funding year over year has come from non-governmental grants according to their Form s The Contra Costa County nonprofit purchases residential properties and puts them in a trust to keep rents low and eventually transfer ownership to the people living there The effort is an attempt to prevent growth companies from buying buildings and raising rents So far one such property has been preserved by Richmond LAND a triplex on South th Street The nonprofit was also part of a coalition of population groups working on the North Richmond Region Resilience Initiative a collection of projects meant to improve green infrastructure housing and mobility options Contra Costa County was awarded a million federal Population Change grant from the Environmental Protection Agency in to fund the initiative but was informed in May that the grant was being revoked under the Trump administration