Caminar, a Bay Area behavioral health nonprofit, says its former chief financial officer secretly slipped nearly $100,000 in bogus invoices through the system before quietly resigning in September 2025. The organization says an internal review uncovered the questionable payments, it then alerted law enforcement, and it is now trying to claw the money back while investigators dig into what happened.
In last Friday’s statement, Caminar said the probe started in spring 2025 when staff flagged a suspicious consulting invoice. That one red flag led to a deeper review and, according to the nonprofit, independent investigators eventually tied other payments to a vendor that “appeared fabricated.” In all, they concluded that $99,375 had been misappropriated. Leadership also announced a new Compliance Committee and an anonymous ethics hotline as part of tighter financial controls. “To say it is deeply troubling that anyone associated with Caminar would cause us harm is an understatement,” CEO Mark Cloutier wrote.
How Investigators Say It Happened
According to The Mercury News, investigators traced the money to what they describe as a fictitious business that matched vendor information allegedly created by the CFO. The fraudulent invoices, they say, billed Caminar for consulting services that were never actually provided.
The Mercury News reports that Caminar brought in outside legal counsel and forensic accountants to help run down the paper trail. The nonprofit is now seeking repayment from the former executive…