2 charged with corruption: City says they used non-profit posts for profit

City and federal officials, highlighting an effort to crack down on municipal corruption, announced the indictments yesterday of two women accused of stealing from nonprofits funded by city and federal grants.

Brenda Wilkins, 62, is accused of using her post at the Philadelphia Housing Development Corp. to sell a PHDC-owned house worth $65,000 to her daughter's boyfriend in 2005 for $1. The boyfriend then sold the house to Wilkins' daughter for $1.

Wilkins is also charged with asking the boyfriend, who was cooperating with federal investigators, to lie to a grand jury.

Dorena Kearney, 52, is accused of stealing $138,000 from The Colours Organization, a non-profit that provides services to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Philadelphians. Officials said that she used the money to pay for cosmetic surgery, pet supplies, jewelry, a cruise vacation and clothing.

"We will not tolerate corruption or fraud or abuse of the public trust in our city government," said Mayor Nutter, noting his push for the city's inspector general to investigate cases for referral to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

U.S. Attorney Laurie Magid said that the cases, the first two prosecutions to come from Nutter's call for collaboration, are examples of corruption that can erode the confidence of city residents in their government. While the women indicted yesterday were not high-level officials stealing millions, their alleged actions still have an impact, she said.

"We're not just talking about a loss of money," Magid said. "There is a loss of trust when acts like this go unchallenged."

Amy Kurland, the city's inspector general, said that referrals on Wilkins and Kearney were among an inventory of cases she reviewed when she took over her post in January 2008.

The inspector general's office, which previously did preliminary probes before referring cases to law-enforcement agencies, now conducts more extensive investigations. Kurland said her office now has "hundreds of cases" under review and is eager to hear from the public about any allegations of wrongdoing.

"We get tips every day," Kurland said.

Wilkins, of Philadelphia, declined to comment yesterday. She retired in 2005 from PHDC. She could face 24 to 30 months in prison if convicted.

Kearney, of Lindenwold, N.J., did not respond to a request for comment. She was executive director of Colours from 2004 to 2007. She could face 12 to 18 months in prison if convicted. *