June 5, 2017
Dear District Attorney George Gascón:
I am requesting that you bring criminal charges against: Jonathan Vernick, Judith Stevenson, and Barbara Garcia. In a recent interview with a Baker Places employee, I was given the following information supported with documents:
*In 2014 Judith Stevenson, then the chief Financial Officer at Baker Places, Incorporated (hereafter “Baker Places” or “Baker”) was caught embezzling funds from Baker Places. It is estimated that over the more than 10 years she acted as the CFO she stole $3.4 million. This is based on the 990s nonprofits file with the IRS. A source for these public record is www.guidestar.com.
*When Jonathan Vernick, the executive director of Baker Places, was notified of the embezzlement at Baker, he along with others such as Nick Lederer, the CEO of Baker Places, covered it up. They did not notified the police or the public. However, officials at the Department of Public Health, including Barbara Garcia and Tom Mesa were informed of the theft of public funds. This is public funds since nearly all of Baker’s $12 Million annual allotment comes from DPH.
* Nick Lederer, the CEO was notified of the situation via registered mail in April 2015 and did nothing.
* Barbara Garcia was informed of Ms. Stevenson’s theft by late 2014. In addition, Tom Mesa was informed by 2015.
*To pay the IRS $825,000 in back taxes, Jonathan Vernick had 10 clients illegally evicted from 54-56 Francis Street. Then he sold the property on February 15, 2015 and paid nearly $800,000 to the IRS on the same day (See IRS 990 form for 2013-2014 fiscal years). This was theft of public funds since this property had been donated by the Mayor’s Office on Housing and Development to house populations such as those who are HIV +.
* This employee was unsure if Barbara Garcia had approved of the sale of the property at 54-56 Francis Street, but provided evidence that she did know about the embezzlement by Ms. Stevenson.
* As of today, June 5, 2017, Jonathan Vernick is illegally selling the Baker Places’ office building to pay off the $3.4 million which was stolen by Ms. Stevenson. This building at 120 Page Street has been home to Baker for decades. Please note this building was donated to Baker Places to house various populations such as those who are HIV+. Employees will now have to be relocated to a woodshed-like structure on third street.
* To understand the real estate transactions, it was recommended that Pablo Tisker of Bernstein Realty be contacted. Apparently, he has ties to Baker Places property. See:
I will be posting this letter on my blog, www.defundbakerplaces.blogspot. [note: all links in this letter can be found in the June 5, 2017 post] and asking readers to contact you. While I am not a legal scholar, I spoke with an attorney on a pro bono basis and he advised me that there are grounds to charge both Judith Stevenson and Jonathan Vernick with embezzlement; also, there appears to be grounds to charge Mr. Vernick with theft of public funds. Also, the attorney indicated that Barbara Garcia should be charged with public corruption offenses with your office.
It will be a pleasure to speak with one of your investigators and provide him or her with additional information. Please contact me at safeway7354@gmail.com to set up an interview. Also, an investigator might visit Financial Documents and Information Prepared for Tom Mesa, a Representative of the Department of Public Health and note that at the end of this document I provide 9 contact numbers which might be able to provide leads. Thank you for your kind attention to this matter.
Sincerely Yours,
Harry Petersen
Note to readers: Please contact the
District Attorney's office at San Francisco
District Attorney's.
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