A prominent transgender activist stole nearly $100,000 from a bail fund she managed and used the money to pay for renovations to her closet and Mercedes. Brooklyn prosecutors allege.

Dominique Morgan, 43, of Atlanta, already earned $200,000 a year as CEO of the Brooklyn-based company. Okra project when he stole $99,000 over a period of about two weeks in July 2022, prosecutors allege.

Morgan announced that Okra, which offers mutual aid and other resources to the black trans community across the country, would begin rescuing people, but took no steps to create an official initiative, prosecutors charge.

She transferred the money to her personal account, ostensibly to bail out indigent criminal defendants, but instead spent it on a $19,000 California Closets renovation, payments on a Mercedes-Benz, shopping at clothing stores, meals and other personal expenses, according to prosecutors. .

When Okra asked him for proof that he was using the bail money, he made up fake receipts for 23 people who were allegedly arrested in Fulton County, Georgia, and Douglas County, Nebraska, prosecutors allege. But an audit showed that none of those people had been arrested in either county at the time, prosecutors said.

He left Okra the following month. advertising on your LinkedIn page, “August 2, 2022 was my last day in my contracted position as Executive Director of The Okra Project. “The decision was amicable.”

Morgan was indicted Tuesday in Brooklyn Supreme Court on one count of grand theft and 23 counts of falsifying business records. He pleaded not guilty and Judge Danny Chun ordered his release without bail.

She did not respond to questions outside the courtroom and her attorney Jonathan Fink declined to comment.

She could face between five and 15 years behind bars if convicted of the top charge.

“The theft of nonprofit funds deprives communities of critical resources, erodes public trust, and deceives donors who give in good faith,” said Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez. “The defendant in this case allegedly stole bail funds intended to secure the pretrial release of indigent defendants, rather than using the money for personal benefit.”

Project Okra terminated Ms. Morgan’s employment after financial discrepancies were discovered. This incident led The Okra Project to contact the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office, which launched its own investigation into the matter.

The nonprofit’s current executive director, Gabrielle Inés Souza, alluded to the upheaval in a letter on the organization’s website after she took the position.

“I am no stranger to the lack of leadership, accountability and transparency that has affected this organization. “Many have tried to forget the mistakes of the past, hoping to forge a new path without addressing old wounds,” he wrote. “But, in the words of George Santayana, ‘those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.’ And in recent years, we have been stuck in repetition.”

In a statement Tuesday, Souza said, “Project Okra terminated Ms. Morgan’s employment after financial discrepancies were discovered. “This incident led The Okra Project to contact the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office, which launched its own investigation into the matter.”

Morgan is also the former executive director of Black and Pink, a national prison abolition organization that supports currently and formerly incarcerated people who are LGBTQ and/or living with HIV/AIDS.

After leaving Okra, she became director of the Fund for Trans Generations in Borealis Philanthropy.

Borealis representatives did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.