Transgender therapist jailed for allegedly stealing $940,000 in taxpayer funds

-

Jacob Rostovsky, the 33-year-old transgender male CEO of Queer Works — a nonprofit dedicated to mental health care access for transgender, gender nonbinary, and intersex (TGI) individuals — has been indicted on 53 felony counts for allegedly stealing over $940,000 in taxpayer money from the city of Palm Springs, California. Rostovsky has pleaded not guilty on all counts.

Rostovsky surrendered himself to the local district attorney’s office on October 17 and posted a $944,000 bail. He faces charges of fraudulent claims, grand theft, misappropriation of public funds, insurance fraud, perjury, and money laundering, according to the district attorney’s office.

Related

Author of “Don’t Say Gay” law stole $150,000 in COVID funds. He’s going to jail.
He said opponents of the anti-LGBTQ+ law want to “sexualize your 6 year olds.” He was stealing government funds at the same time.

In July 2021, Riverside County awarded grants to Queer Works to fund programs to help homeless individuals and domestic violence survivors. In March 2022, the Palm Springs municipal government gave Queer Works $200,000 to develop a universal basic income (UBI) pilot program, and in July 2022, the city council gave an additional $500,000 matching funds for Queer Works to pursue a UBI program with the state of California.

Stay connected to your community

Connect with the issues and events that impact your community at home and beyond by subscribing to our newsletter.
Subscribe to our Newsletter today

The UBI program was supposed to provide 180 participants with monthly stipends of $800. However, financial reviews by Riverside County Housing & Workforce Solutions (HWS) reportedly found that Rostovsky allegedly deposited the county funds into his personal bank account and then altered the financial documents that he submitted to the county.

The DA’s office also said that Rostovsky made at least 89 false statements to county officials and submitted forged documents to the county and city to obtain over $840,000 in funds meant for UBI payments and housing assistance.

“Rostovsky used a portion of these funds, intended for individuals in need of assistance, on personal expenses, including purchases at Disney, Burberry, and the Beverly Garland Hotel,” the DA’s office said in a statement.

Rostovsky also allegedly collected an additional $90,000 by impersonating a Queer Works client and filing a fraudulent insurance claim against Queer Works, the statement claimed. Rostovsky allegedly used his fraudulent alias to negotiate a settlement with Queer Work’s insurance carrier, Philadelphia Insurance, and then used the settlement for his own personal gain.

He also stands accused of multiple acts of money laundering to cover up his alleged misdealings.

In a statement, the Palm Springs municipal government said it “fully supports the Riverside County District Attorney’s efforts in investigating and indicting Mr. Jacob Rostovsky for allegedly defrauding the taxpayers of our city, our county, and state out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.”

The city said it would also take additional measures to prevent the misuse of public funds in the future, including enhanced oversight, staff training, independent audits, and vetting processes for new organizations, as well as requiring regular progress reports to gain funds over $75,000.

“The City is committed to ensuring full accountability for public funds and has already taken significant steps to prevent such incidents from occurring in the future,” it said.

Queer Works was established in 2018.

Subscribe to the LGBTQ Nation newsletter and be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.



source https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2024/11/transgender-therapist-jailed-for-allegedly-stealing-940000-in-taxpayer-funds/

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Prosecutors decline to charge suspect identified in alleged anti-trans mass shooting

-
Image
Prosecutors in Chicago have failed to charge a suspect identified in photo lineups as the shooter who killed a trans woman and her mother in a home invasion in January . Three other victims were wounded, including two other trans women. The suspect, who remains unidentified because he hasn’t been charged, has two other pending cases in Cook County court, records reveal: a felony residential burglary count and a misdemeanor count of domestic battery. The 19-year-old suspect lives in the same apartment complex as the victims did, on Chicago’s South Side. The police report for the mass shooting details how two people “kicked in the front door and began shooting” at about 1:40 p.m. on January 23. Unique Banks, 20, and her mother Alexsandra Olmo, 43, were killed at the scene. Three other victims were hospitalized in critical condition. One witness told investigators they had seen two males running north from the courtyard building wearing green camouflage. The shooting took place on th
Read more

Census Bureau will start testing new LGBTQ+ questions on its yearly survey

-
Image
The U.S. Census Bureau, after nearly a year of pushing the Biden administration, will begin testing questions pertaining to LGBTQ+ identity on its American Community Survey (ACS). These questions would ask people about their sexual orientation and gender identity. The Bureau put out a Federal Register notice signifying that this is the last chance for the public to give comment on all pending ACS questions, including those pertaining to LGBTQ+ individuals. The deadline given for comment is May 30, with an online form provided for any feedback on these questions. The wording for these questions can be found on the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs website . After the Bureau’s deadline, it will be submitting the questions to the Office of Management and Budget, where they will await approval for testing in the summer. The ACS asks questions about demographic, socioeconomic, and housing-related topics annually. New questions must undergo a rigorous approval and testing p
Read more

Conservatives are outraged over fake AI images of Target’s Satanic offerings

-
Image
Conservatives were already upset about Target over its LGBTQ+-inclusive Pride collection. But now they’re angry over fake AI-generated images that show the store selling “Satanic” clothing. The images show kids wearing clothes with inverted pentagrams and goat heads and a store display with a red, goat-headed mannequin. The images were created by Facebook user Dan Reese with the AI program Midjourney, Reuters reported . A Target spokesperson told the publication that it “has never sold” the pictured items, and the items aren’t available on the store’s website. Related Stories Brave gay man yells “Praise Satan” & throws Bible in fire at pastor’s book-burning The husbands kissed as congregants screamed in disgust. “That guy has balls of steel,” one commenter wrote under the video. A Facebook page called Christian Patriots posted the images and wrote , “Look at the faces on these children, I feel in my spirit, they even knew there was something satanic with making t
Read more