Former Santa Rosa nonprofit director sentenced in embezzlement case
A woman was sentenced Tuesday for embezzling thousands of dollars from a nonprofit where she oversaw services that benefited homeless and at-risk youth.
Lisa Fatu was ordered to spend four months in jail, or under work release, and pay more than $50,000 in restitution to Social Advocates for Youth, or SAY, where she had worked for two decades.
She will need to make monthly payments of $1,500 and will be on probation for three years.
Sonoma County Judge Robert LaForge oversaw proceedings, which were attended by representatives of the nonprofit Fatu where she served as director of youth crisis services.
In his remarks, LaForge said Fatu did “significant damage.”
In a 2019 interview with the North Bay Business Journal, The Press Democrat’s sister publication, Fatu said she oversaw programs for street outreach, human trafficking prevention and housing placement. Her budget was $1.4 million.
During Tuesday’s hearing, SAY CEO Anita Maldonado said Fatu was a “trusted staff member” who abused that trust in order to steal funds that should have gone toward youth services.
“When she misused the organization’s funds, she knew she was effectively stealing from our youth,” Maldonado said. “Each instance of theft could have been a hot meal for a youth, could have taken a youth off the streets, could have bought clothes for a trafficked victim.”
In July 2022, SAY announced it had discovered “financial irregularities” that had occurred over a matter of weeks, in programs related to its youth crisis and career services.
At that time, SAY announced “a high-level employee” had admitted to taking funds for personal use and that person was fired.
Santa Rosa police arrested Fatu during a traffic stop Sept. 29, 2022, on suspicion of embezzling more than $50,000 from the organization between August 2017 and June 2022.
Investigators said she used the money to pay for furniture and utility bills, among other things.
Investigators also arrested Fatu’s roommate, Anastacia Matavale, who police said knew about Fatu’s embezzlement and was willingly benefiting from it.
Matavale was not charged in the case.
The Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office filed one count of grand theft against Fatu. She had faced up to three years in prison if convicted.
She pleaded not guilty to the allegation before changing her plea to no contest under an April 10 plea agreement.
On Tuesday, Fatu’s defense attorney, Evan Zelig, told LaForge his client was remorseful and “feels terrible about the situation.”
“She looks forward to resolving this case,” Zelig said during Tuesday’s hearing.
Maldonado added, “The effects of the crime will take many years to fully put behind us. This sentencing (Tuesday) gets us one step closer.”
You can reach Staff Writer Colin Atagi at colin.atagi@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @colin_atagi.
