Nonprofit’s ex-leader jailed for embezzlement

The former executive director of a nonprofit organization that shelters and helps homeless people in Leeward Oahu find permanent housing is going to jail for a year for stealing more than a half-million dollars from the organization.

A state judge sentenced Sophina Placencia to four years of probation Monday, one year of which she must serve behind bars, on five counts of theft for stealing $554,541 from Waianae Community Outreach. The thefts occurred between 2007 and 2013. Placencia, 35, pleaded no contest to the charges in April 2016. She has until May 15 to turn herself in to begin serving her jail term.

Circuit Judge Dean Ochiai also ordered Placencia to repay the state Department of Human Services the $554,541 she stole. The organization had and continues to receive approximately $1 million per year in funding from the state.

Placencia told Ochiai that she takes responsibility for what she did and knows that she tarnished the reputation of the organization her mother started and who preceded her as executive director.

“I take responsibility for that tarnishment, and I really do hope to work to re-establishing a good name in my community,” she said.

The organization changed its name in 2014 to Kealahou West Oahu.

Kealahou West Oahu sued Placencia in 2015, saying she made approximately $292,000 in unauthorized purchases using the organization’s debit card on travel, entertainment, meals and recreation. The lawsuit also claims that Placencia used the debit card to pay for the installation of an above-ground pool at her mother’s house, a Harley-Davidson motorcycle and jewelry for her girlfriend, and veterinary bills and dog supplies.

A state judge found in favor of Kealahou last year in the Placencia lawsuit.

Ochiai said he’s puzzled over why Placencia did what she did, noting that she had not committed any crimes before.

“The sad and tragic thing about this is over half a million dollars which could have been used to help the people that your mission was for got siphoned,” he said.

The criminal case involving Waianae Community Outreach started in 2010, when Placencia reported to Honolulu police that a former employee, Laura Pitolo, had stolen from the organization. She provided police with 36 canceled checks that she said Pitolo had written to herself and others without authorization.

The case was never forwarded for prosecution. In 2013, after the statute of limitations had or was about to expire, the lawyer for the organization contacted police who said the detective assigned to the case was never able to locate and interview Pitolo or any of the others who cashed the checks. Police also said that Placencia had failed to turn over other records that the detective had requested.

The state DHS took over the investigation, then turned it over to the state Department of the Attorney General, which secured indictments and charges against Placencia, Pitolo and another former employee, Jamye Windsor, in 2015.

Two other judges dismissed the criminal cases against Pitolo and Windsor because the charges against them were filed more than three years after the crimes were allegedly committed or discovered.

The statute of limitations against Placencia had not yet expired when an Oahu grand jury returned an indictment against her in March 2015 because her crimes were not discovered until 2013, when the DHS started its investigation.

Kealahou also sued Pitolo and Windsor. Those suits are pending.