District Attorney Summer Stephan slammed county officials for failed checks and balances during a Wednesday press conference about a former nonprofit executive charged with allegedly misappropriating more than $134,000 in public funds.
Refresher: Our Lisa Halverstadt broke the news that Amy Knox, who had managed the Harm Reduction Coalition of San Diego’s finances, was charged with three felony counts of misappropriation of public money and three felony counts of fraudulent appropriation for allegedly using nonprofit funds for plastic surgeries, high-end clothes, a vacation to Hawaii and more. The criminal charges come nearly eight months after the county cancelled contracts with the nonprofit to distribute overdose reversal drug Narcan and test street drugs in a bid to reduce fentanyl deaths.
Stephan said a 2023 county audit documented significant financial red flags and staffers learned after a background check that Knox had been previously convicted of embezzlement of more than $500,000 from a former employer. Yet the county awarded a second contract to the Harm Reduction Coalition a year later…