O.C. Charity Chief Jailed in Forgeries : Investigation: Fired director of Irvine housing agency charged with diverting to his personal use much of $450,000.

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 dismissed as executive director of Irvine Temporary Housing in June when the agency’s board of directors discovered that several thousand dollars were missing from its bank accounts. On Tuesday, the Orange County district attorney’s office filed 15 counts of theft and forgery charges 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 suffer in the scandal.

“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, chairperson of ITH. “Now they’re victims of this as well.”

Wakeham was critical of a decision by the city of Irvine on Tuesday to continue withholding a $406,000 grant that had been awarded to ITH for the purchase of condominiums. City Manager Paul O. Brady Jr. said the city would keep the funds until the housing agency’s “books are in order and a system is in place to prevent this type of thing from happening again.”

Wakeham said that withholding the grant “is like asking a woman who has been raped if she’s going to do that anymore. It’s just not fair.”

Weinman was one of four full-time employees at Irvine Temporary Housing, which owns four condominiums and rents a dozen other apartments in Irvine to provide shelter for at least 45 needy families each year. The agency was founded seven years ago by a group of local churches to provide temporary housing and other assistance for people until they are able to meet their own expenses.

The families stay in the homes for an average of 90 days and pay a minimal rent depending on their income. The agency also donates hundreds of boxes of canned food to people in need each year and sponsors counseling services for battered women and families.

The housing program has an annual budget of $108,000, most of which is provided by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the city and private donors.

“We get up to 50 calls every week for help and many of them are turned away,” said Wakeham, who is also a board member of the Irvine Unified School District. “That money (allegedly stolen) could have provided shelter for the homeless and food for the hungry.”

Wakeham prompted the investigation of Weinman in June when she told police that signatures of board members had been forged on agency 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 records by obtaining new bank statements. An analysis of those records revealed that Weinman had forged the authorizing signatures on at least 600 checks totaling $450,000, Thies said.

At least 139 checks, worth $81,000, were used to pay 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.”

Olevia Freeman, 39, is among those who have been aided by ITH. Freeman, who suffers from a rare muscle disease, has lived for almost a year with her three teen-age sons in a converted farmhouse owned by the agency.

“I didn’t want welfare, all I wanted was a roof over our heads,” Freeman said. “I hunted for months and months and Irvine is the only place that has a program like this. I’m willing to mount a grass-roots movement to save it.”

Weinman, a father of three, worked for five years as a manager with Goodwill Industries in Santa Ana before taking the Irvine job. Voter registration records listed his occupation as an attorney and Wakeham said that he had provided legal advice to several ITH clients. But an official with the State Bar of California said it has no record of an attorney named Clyde E. Weinman.

Meantime, Wakeham said she and other board members will attempt to persuade the agency’s major donors and volunteers that they should continue their support.

“We have to continue to reach out to people in crisis,” Wakeham said. “Just because we’re Irvine doesn’t mean we don’t have these kinds of problems. We cannot forget that those needy people are out there.”

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