The former head of the L.A.-based anti-poverty nonprofit Youth Policy Institute improperly used the organization’s funds to pay the property taxes on his house, buy furniture for his home office and make national political donations, the group alleged in court documents filed this week.
Dixon Slingerland, who was fired as the group’s chief executive in September, spent the nonprofit’s money on an array of unauthorized and personal expenses, including private tutoring for his children, contributions to his wife’s pension, and “lavish” dining, travel and entertainment, according to a Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing lodged by the nonprofit in federal court.
Board members at the nonprofit “concluded that Mr. Slingerland had been misusing YPI’s funds for his personal use over an extended period of time, and at least since 2014,” the document says.
Slingerland, a fundraiser for both President Obama and Mayor Eric Garcetti, used his group’s funds to make “partisan political contributions” to federal campaign committees, an activity that violates federal tax laws, according to the bankruptcy filing.
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