A few weeks ago, an audit of the District’s Department of Health showed that the city had not applied proper oversight on a $10 million grant program designed to benefit HIV/AIDS residential services. Turns out that at least some of that money was allegedly spent on building a strip club.
Earlier today, the District’s attorney general, Irv Nathan, announced that the city was filing suit against Miracle Hands, an organization which stands accused of taking $329,653 of that $10 million in grants and spending it on construction of a nightclub. (The investigation was prompted at the request of At-Large Councilmember David Catania.) The organization, the A.G. says, billed the city for renovations made at two warehouses which were to be used to house HIV/AIDS patients; one of those warehouses has the same address as Stadium Club.
Of course, the actual renovations on a facility to accomodate the patients was never actually completed, according to the lawsuit. Oh, and the city’s former HIV/AIDS Housing Administrator, Debra Rowe — who was in charge of making decisions on who would receive the funding before she was fired in 2008 — is currently the executive director of Miracle Hands.
In a statement, Nathan stated that the Office of the Attorney General “will continue to be relentless in our efforts to recover government funds from those who have unjustly enriched themselves at the expense of the District of Columbia.” The lawsuit seeks $1 million in damages.
