Let’s talk about fraud and gaming the system. Evidently the CEO for the 1736 Family Crisis Center is raking in the big bucks… from Hawaii. And has been doing so for at least TEN YEARS.

For more than four decades, the 1736 Family Crisis Center has offered care for victims of domestic violence, running shelters and crisis hotlines in L.A. and Orange counties on what today is a $15-million budget.

But the primary residence of the nonprofit’s chief executive has been in Hawaii for at least the last 10 years. And for at least part of that time, the organization has paid for a luxury beachside apartment in Santa Monica for her visits to the region, and leased a BMW for her personal use at home on the Big Island, according to nonprofit records reviewed by The Times and a lawyer who fielded employee concerns in 2019.

It’s unclear how long the 1736 FCC paid for the $6,500-a-month apartment or if it continues to do so. Board members for the nonprofit, which runs domestic violence shelters in the L.A. area, approved the arrangement in 2018, according to emails. The nonprofit was paying rent the following year, according to a bank transaction. The center’s attorney, Kerry Garvis Wright, would not provide details about how long the payments lasted.

Read that again. Carol Adelkoff, who is being paid well over a million dollars per year, lives in Hawaii the majority of the time, and drives a pricy BMW that the nonprofit bought for her. In order to show up for her “job,” the nonprofit is also paying for a swanky apartment that has a $6500 per month price tag.

Meanwhile, how much money actually flows to the homeless and the victims of domestic violence? Some staffers did ask questions.

The organization’s attorney, Kerry Garvis Wright, defended the apartment expenses in a letter, arguing maintaining a residence was more cost-effective and predictable than repeatedly booking hotel rooms for Adelkoff’s visits.

Wright also said the property provided additional security for the CEO, who had concerns about her personal safety.

The spending had already sparked alarm among employees years earlier.

In 2019, three senior staffers hired attorney Dorsey Kleger-Heine to raise concerns about what they believed was an improper use of charitable funds to finance Adelkoff’s personal benefits, according to the LA Times.

Kleger-Heine outlined the employees’ allegations in a letter to the nonprofit’s board in December 2019.

Weeks later, she escalated the matter to the California Attorney General’s Office, filing a complaint with its charities division over the organization’s spending practices.

Adelkoff’s salary is around $400K per year. The next level staffer at 1736 Family Crisis Center brings in $200K per year. That’s quite a difference isn’t it?

Keep in mind, 1736 FCC is funded largely by taxpayer dollars. It is, at its heart, an NGO.

Nonprofit service providers, such as the 1736 FCC, have become the government’s go-to response to the homelessness crisis. The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, for example, has doled out billions of dollars since 2021 to local nonprofits trying to house people, including at least $25 million to the 1736 FCC.

This government spending has come under growing scrutiny from federal lawmakers and agencies. Auditors have found lax oversight and mismanagement of funds and LAHSA, a joint powers agency of the city and county, is now fighting to survive an investigation by the Trump administration.

The red flags are definitely flying in regards to the board’s oversight and management of 1736 FCC and the budget. In addition to the apartment rent, Adelkoff’s utilities and parking for the apartment were covered. The board also covered the cost of the BMW’s insurance, gas, and vehicle maintenance in Hawaii. Remember, her JOB is in LA. Not Hawaii, so no personal car should’ve been provided in that state.

As Houmann David Hemmati points out on X

CEO of a Los Angeles “nonprofit” for domestic violence survivors lives in HAWAII, paid $1.6 MILLION over 2 years, leased BMW AND $6500/mo oceanfront apartment.

Who would support a ballot measure preventing ONE CENT of taxpayer $ from going to any NGO ever again? They’re clearly used to steal our cash more than to provide services. If government can’t provide services itself, give us our $ back and let us donate or spend it as we wish.

And who doesn’t benefit from this generous salary, the BMW in Hawaii, and the Santa Monica apartment? The homeless and the victims of domestic violence.

In reality, Adelkoff’s salary is now nearly $850K a year. And the board keeps signing off on it. Then again, the LA Times investigation also found that at least ONE of the board members is also getting paid, something the board’s own bylaws forbid!

1736 FCC isn’t the only NGO in LA that is raking in the big bucks. The CEO for A Step to Freedom had evidently directed over $1.7 million in funds to three companies she owns.

You want to know why the homeless situation is so dire in LA? This kind of fraud is why.

The entire board needs to be canned, Adelkoff needs to go, and the 1736 Family Crisis Center either folds or gets new NON government oversight.

Feature Photo Credit: Hawaii sign in the sand via iStock, cropped and modified