The previous chief working officer of a nonprofit that contracted with San Diego County to distribute the anti-overdose medicine Narcan has been charged with embezzling funds from the group.
Amy Knox, ex-COO of Hurt Discount Coalition of San Diego, is accused of taking up $130,000 in public funds to pay for private bills similar to cosmetic surgery procedures, journeys to Hawaii and Disneyland, and funds for her SDG&E and bank card payments.
In response to the San Diego County District Lawyer’s Workplace, the funds she’s accused of taking had been a part of over $4 million awarded to the nonprofit for its efforts to forestall and cut back fentanyl deaths inside San Diego County.
Knox, 45, “managed the nonprofit’s funds and was designated because the contract administrator for the county contracts,” the D.A.’s Workplace stated.
She faces as much as seven years in state jail if convicted of prices that embody felony counts of misappropriating public funds and embezzlement.
Knox was arrested final week and after pleading not responsible to the costs on Wednesday, she stays in custody on $200,000 bail, pending a bail assessment listening to set for subsequent week.
In a information convention asserting the costs, San Diego County District Lawyer Summer season Stephan stated Knox was beforehand charged in San Diego County with taking up $500,000 from a previous employer. Courtroom information present she pleaded responsible to felony grand theft prices in that case and was sentenced to jail in 2015.
Regardless of her felony historical past, Stephan stated Knox was capable of attain her place within the group with out a background examine.
After issues had been raised by county workers, a background examine was finally performed and revealed the conviction, but round a yr later, the nonprofit was awarded one other contract from the county in August of 2024, Stephan stated.
Stephan stated Wednesday that it was “deeply regarding that the checks and balances which can be purported to safeguard the county’s massive funds and belief funds failed on this case.”
Hurt Discount Coalition’s CEO, Tara Stamos-Buesig, reported suspicions concerning Knox to the District Lawyer’s Workplace final Might, Stephan stated. The county canceled its contracts for Narcan distribution and drug testing with the nonprofit the next month.
Stephan stated that after the contracts had been terminated, there was no referrals to the D.A.’s Workplace for potential felony investigation, as had been accomplished in earlier situations of suspected fraud or wrongdoing by public officers.
County officers didn’t reply to a request for remark concerning Stephan’s assertions.
Stephan stated an investigation remained ongoing into “features within the county as to why and the way this occurred,” in addition to whether or not anybody else was concerned within the fraud.
She additionally alleged there has “been an effort to take away checks and balances in terms of contracts” and that staff have lately left the county “with agreements to be silent.”
The D.A.’s Workplace urged any county staff with data of suspected malfeasance to report issues to prosecutors and stated that anybody making experiences can be protected beneath whistleblower legal guidelines.
Stephan stated in an announcement, “Whistleblowing is a crucial a part of public security. It’s typically the primary line of protection in opposition to corruption and misuse of public funds.”
