Huey P. Newton Accused of Thefts
Huey P. Newton and two officers of an inner-city youth program launched 13 years ago have been named in a civil complaint alleging assets of the organization were diverted for personal use.
State Atty. Gen. John Van de Kamp filed the complaint in Superior Court, naming the former Black Panther leader, his ex-wife, Gwen Newton Swackhamer, and Mark Alexander--all former officers and directors of Educational Opportunities Corp.
The complaint seeks an accounting from the directors of more than $580,000 received from the state education department for school programs and an accounting of a dozen parcels of property in Oakland and Berkeley, formerly owned by the corporation.
Newton also faces 34 felony complaints of grand theft and embezzlement of state funds in connection with the corporation, organized in 1973 to provide educational opportunities to Oakland youths. Those charges were brought in Oakland Municipal Court by the Justice Department in several separate filings over the last year.
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