Irvine Agency Theft Case Goes to Jury

An Orange County Superior Court jury was asked Thursday to decide whether Clyde E. Weinman is a heartless thief who stole from the homeless or a dedicated do-gooder who sacrificed to help those in need.

The former director of Irvine Temporary Housing--an organization that helps the homeless--faces 13 felony counts of forgery and grand theft and is accused of forging more than 500 checks, totaling nearly $400,000.

Jurors began deliberating in the case Thursday.

Weinman, 44, insists he never took money that did not belong to him. Weinman said he plunged nearly $65,000 of his own savings into charity coffers to cover bills and keep it running, and that he only took back about $60,000 to cover his own living expenses.

Weinman said he is being made the scapegoat for “shoddy” management and persistent under-funding at at the agency.

“All he is doing is struggling to keep the program afloat and himself and his family afloat,” defense attorney Milton Kerlan told the jury, urging them to find Weinman not guilty.

Deputy Dist. Atty. William Overtoom told jurors not to be fooled.

“He stole it, he diverted it for his own use. He did it secretly. He did it with lies,” the prosecutor told jurors.

Agency administrator Margie Wakeham said outside of court that Weinman never notified the charity’s board of directors about financial shortfalls and cannot blame others.

“He was the management. He was hired to be the management,” said Wakeham, who said the organization has struggled to recover. “The board did not have a true picture of what was going on at Irvine Temporary Housing.”