"Weingart has retained an outside law firm to probe "certain" homeless housing projects "in light of recent reporting raising questions concerning the valuation" of the projects, a spokesperson said in a statement Friday. The two officials - Kevin Murray, a former state senator who serves as president and CEO, and Ben Rosen, director of real estate development - could not immediately be reached for comment."
"One is at the center of an ongoing criminal case in which federal prosecutors have accused a real estate executive of using fake documentation to buy a nursing home in Cheviot Hills for $11.2 million, then quickly selling it to Weingart for $27.3 million. A second project would have converted a Torrance hotel into apartment units for homeless people. Weingart planned to purchase the hotel for $30 million - a price that was probably significantly higher than the hotel's actual value, The Times"
Two senior Weingart Center officials, President/CEO Kevin Murray and real estate director Ben Rosen, have been placed on leave while the nonprofit launches an internal review of certain housing projects. The organization retained an outside law firm to investigate project valuations after reporting raised questions. Chief Operating Officer Tonja Boykin will lead operations during the review. One project involves a Cheviot Hills nursing home purchase tied to a federal criminal investigation alleging fake documents and a rapid resale to Weingart at $27.3 million. Another project was a planned $30 million Torrance hotel conversion that Weingart later abandoned after scrutiny.
#weingart-center #homeless-housing #project-valuation #internal-investigation #criminal-investigation
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