Ex-Head of Charity Held on Forgery, Theft Counts : Crime: Clyde E. Weinman is charged with looting Irvine agency of $450,000. He was fired in June.

The former head of a nonprofit agency that provides help for homeless and needy families was arrested Tuesday on charges that he forged signatures on agency checks totaling $450,000 and diverted much of that money for his personal use.

Clyde E. Weinman was fired as executive director of Irvine Temporary Housing in June when the agency’s board of directors discovered that money was missing from its bank accounts. On Tuesday, the Orange County district attorney’s office filed 15 counts of theft and forgery against Weinman after a six-month investigation by Irvine police.

Weinman, 42, of Lake Forest, had held the $30,000-a-year job since December, 1989. The alleged forgery and theft occurred from October, 1990, to March, 1992, authorities said. Weinman was in custody on $100,000 bail and could not be reached for comment.

Police and officials with Irvine Temporary Housing lamented that people in dire need of money and shelter stand to lose the most.

“The people we help are women who have divorced, abused women, sick people and victims of some condition they have no control over,” said Margie Wakeham, agency chairperson. “Now they’re victims of this as well.”

Compounding the damage, Wakeham said, was a decision by the city of Irvine on Tuesday to continue withholding a $406,000 grant. City Manager Paul O. Brady Jr. said the city would hold the grant until the agency’s “books are in order and a system is in place to prevent this type of thing from happening again.”

The agency owns four condominiums and rents a dozen other apartments in Irvine to shelter at least 45 families each year. Families stay in the homes for up to 90 days and pay a minimal rent depending on income.

The agency, founded seven years ago by a group of local churches, also donates canned food to needy people and sponsors counseling services for battered women. It receives most of its funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the city and private contributions.

Wakeham prompted the investigation of Weinman in June when she told police that signatures of other board members had been forged on the agency’s checks and that some of the money was used to pay for Weinman’s personal expenses.

Irvine Police Lt. Vic Thies said detectives quickly discovered that the agency’s financial records, including bank statements and returned checks, had been destroyed. Investigators had to reconstruct the agency’s financial records by obtaining new bank statements. An analysis of those records revealed that Weinman had forged the authorizing signatures on at least 600 checks for a total amount of $450,000, Thies said.

At least 139 checks, worth $81,000, went toward paying Weinman’s utility bills and for “unusual and uncustomary expenses” at several hardware stores, Thies said. Fraud investigators are still trying to determine exactly how much money was diverted to Weinman’s personal use.

“It’s a tragedy anytime you have a charitable organization that’s been ripped off,” Thies said. “Some of them are people who are losing their homes, who need help financially. Much of that money could have gone to those needy people. These are the victims that need it the most.”