NEWPORT BEACH : Hearing Delayed in Charity Theft Case

Arraignment was postponed Thursday for the former executive director of an Irvine charity for the homeless who is charged with skimming $81,000 from the nonprofit agency.

Clyde E. Weinman, 43, of Lake Forest was present in Municipal Court just long enough to waive his right to a speedy trial. Judge Susanne S. Shaw granted Weinman’s request for additional time to raise money to retain his own attorney. Weinman is represented by a court-appointed lawyer.

Weinman was arrested Nov. 17 on theft and forgery charges. He is free on $25,000 bond and is scheduled to return to court Dec. 15 for his arraignment.

Prosecutors allege that Weinman embezzled $81,000 from Irvine Temporary Housing for his personal use. He is also accused of forging signatures on nearly 600 agency checks totaling nearly $450,000.

Prosecutors are also investigating whether Weinman diverted more than $150,000 of the agency’s money toward a private contracting business he operated.

Weinman has also been named--but not charged--in a Los Angeles federal court case against David Dean Valentiner, a man convicted this week of stealing $12,280 from the government.

In that case, prosecutors accused Valentiner, a former vendor for the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles, of stealing the money in 1986 and 1987 by submitting false invoices to the foundation for services that were never rendered.

In court documents, the U.S. attorney’s office accused Weinman, at the time an administrator for the Legal Aid Foundation, of receiving kickbacks for approving those false invoices. Though he was convicted of the theft charges, Valentiner was acquitted this week of bribery charges that allegedly involved Weinman.

Federal and county prosecutors declined to discuss whether Weinman is still under investigation in connection with the Valentiner case.