AG James files petition to dissolve CRC after Monroe County audit

Evan Bourtis News10NBC

Community Resource Collaborative (WHEC file photo)

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — New York State Attorney General Letitia James is getting involved after Monroe County says a local nonprofit misused federal funding.

James filed a petition to dissolve the Community Resource Collaborative which was supposed to distribute funds from the American Rescue Plan Act to support Rochester-area grassroots organizations.

As News10NBC has reported, the county’s audit found that these organizations eventually stopped getting paid, owed about $250,000 that they never received from CRC. The audit also found that CRC overpaid itself by $20,000 for being the middleman.

In a news release, James said she’s seeking to dissolve CRC and appoint a receiver to liquidate its remaining assets. Then, she plans to distribute the funds to the local nonprofits that were supposed to get the federal money.

“The CRC’s executives cheated local organizations that provide essential services to the needy to pay for their personal luxuries instead,” James said. “To right this wrong, my office is taking action to dissolve CRC for rampant financial mismanagement and to help recoup funds for nonprofits that were promised aid and were left empty-handed.”

The audit found that CRC paid for expenses unrelated to its mission, including:

$28,000 in transportation expenses, most of them Uber charges for CRC executives.
$180,000 in disbursements to repay loans made by CRC’s founder.
Direct payments to its directors for no apparent reason, including $28,000 in rent payments to the founder’s company Imprintable Solutions, $10,000 for personal security, and $20,000 in direct payments to a CRC board member.

The report also says that CRC failed to maintain a proper financial management system and financial records. James said her office has been working with the Monroe County Law Department.

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