From the Office of the D.C. Auditor:
“D.C. Auditor Kathy Patterson today welcomed action by the D.C. Superior Court which awarded a default judgment totaling $81,064 against Rhonda Edwards-Hines for unauthorized spending while she served as treasurer of Advisory Neighborhood Commission 8C in 2017 and 2018.
The civil judgment was announced Friday by Associate Judge Darlene M. Soltys and includes $42,564 in treble damages for $14,188 in misappropriated funds and $38,500 in civil penalties for seven violations of the District of Columbia False Claims Act (D.C. Code § 2-381.02(a). The lawsuit was filed by the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) based on audit findings published in the 2019 Office of the D.C. Auditor (ODCA) report, ANC 8C Misappropriated Funds.
The ODCA report found that Edwards-Hines, acting as the former ANC 8C treasurer, together with the former ANC chairperson misappropriated funds resulting in $15,688 in unauthorized spending and $14,188 in what appeared to be fraudulent spending. The $14,188 was comprised of checks made out to Edwards-Hines and signed by her and the former chairperson with no documentation to support the checks.
ODCA referred the matter to the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) in 2019, the OIG referred the matter to the OAG in 2021, and OAG filed the suit in 2024. The second Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner who was implicated in the ODCA report passed away in 2022.
“We appreciate the follow-up by the Office of the Attorney General,” Patterson said. “Holding elected officials accountable for mishandling taxpayer money is a critical undertaking, and we are glad the good work of the ODCA team in 2019 has brought us this result.”
The ANC audit was requested in February 2019 by the then-incoming chairman of ANC 8C who expressed concerns with questionable transactions by his predecessors that had occurred in 2017 and 2018, asking at the time for an audit to be done quickly.”
From the DC Attorney General:
“NEW: We secured a $81,064 judgment against the former ANC 8C treasurer for misappropriating public funds.
The discrepancies were uncovered by the Office of the DC Auditor and investigated by OIG before we sued in 2024.
The misuse of taxpayer funds violates public trust and will not be tolerated.
From 2017-18, Rhonda Edwards-Hines wrote and cashed seven checks to withdraw ANC funds to buy cell phones, computers, and a printer for the ANC.
The Office of the DC Auditor audited ANC 8C’s purchases and discovered the defendant had obligated $14,188 of ANC funds without authorization from ANC 8C.
Then, OAG investigated the defendant’s actions as treasurer.
It discovered the defendant never provided the equipment she claimed to purchase to ANC 8C, could not produce purchase receipts, and did not return the money to the ANC.
OAG filed suit in 2024 under the False Claims Act.
The defendant failed to respond to the District’s discovery or the court’s orders compelling her to do so.
On July 24, the Court awarded $81,064 in damages and penalties. We will now work to enforce this judgment and recover the misused funds.
Public money should serve the public.”