Feds and Santa Rosa police investigating DEMA billing in Sonoma County

Santa Rosa police are working with federal authorities to investigate DEMA Consulting and ManagementThe Press Democrat has learned that work for homeless services in Sonoma County was billed.

“We have received documents from the Sonoma County Auditor Controller in recent weeks,” Santa Rosa Police Chief John Cregan said in a statement Tuesday in response to questions from the Press Democrat.

“Our investigators are reviewing the records and documents we receive. We are cooperating with federal investigators as the investigation progresses. Because this is an active and ongoing investigation, we cannot provide further details at this time.”

The FBI’s San Francisco office declined to confirm or deny whether it was investigating the now-shuttered homeless services company.

But on Tuesday, an official in Houston told the Democratic Press that law enforcement there had received cooperation from the FBI in Northern California in their own investigation into DEMA.

Tuesday marked the first official acknowledgment that DEMA was under criminal investigation, a major accomplishment as separate investigations emerged in Texas and California, with federal law enforcement involved at least to some degree in both.

DEMA founder Michelle Patino declined to comment Tuesday. “Talk to my lawyers,” he texted the Press Democrat reporter. An attorney could not immediately be reached for comment.

The company has been under scrutiny for some time. July 2023 Press Democrat investigation Question marks have arisen over the $800,000 the company billed Sonoma County. Erick Roeser, the county’s independently elected auditor. launched its own investigation within days. The official investigation concluded: that the company failed to provide supporting documentation for more than $11 million in invoices.

DEMA received more than $27 million in no-bid contracts from Sonoma County starting in 2020 to provide services to the homeless during the pandemic. Most of that money would be reimbursed by the federal government through pandemic response funds. It remains unclear to what extent DEMA’s lack of recordkeeping will prevent reimbursements to the county. Roeser told The Press Democrat last week that his office is awaiting federal review of the refund request.

In 2021, the company expanded into Harris County, Texas, in the Houston area.

The Press Democrat later reported that DEMA founder and CEO Michelle Patino Billed to Sonoma County for working 22 hours a day for months. In one case, he billed the district for working on a day his social media accounts showed him. Attending a Denver Broncos game at Mile High Stadium in Colorado.

The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors cut ties with DEMA in April 2024, but not before extending its contract several times amid the review. Since then the company collapsed In Sonoma County in May, local government officials remained largely silent on any further official investigations the company and its policies, if any, might face. That changed on Tuesday.

A Texas official said the FBI is cooperating with investigators in Harris County and authorities are conducting a separate investigation there.

The Harris County District Attorney’s Office “received excellent cooperation from the FBI in Northern California,” DA spokesman Joe Stinebaker told The Press Democrat.

He said he did not know the scope of the FBI investigation in Northern California and also declined to discuss the specific targets of the Harris County District Attorney’s investigation into DEMA.

Confirmation of at least some level of FBI involvement comes after Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg publicly announced an ongoing investigation into DEMA by her office and the state law enforcement agency, the Texas Rangers.

office on November 15 filed a criminal complaint against former Sonoma County health department director Barbie Robinson. The charge stems from allegations that Robinson, who left Sonoma County to lead Harris County’s health department, provided inside information to computer giant IBM, which sought a $30 million contract there.

The Texas Ranger uncovered communications between Robinson and IBM officials in an investigation that began with DEMA, Ogg said at a news conference Tuesday.

Harris County’s executive fired Robinson in August over questions about his relationship with DEMA and after learning the health director had signed a high-priced consulting contract with California’s Yuba County.

But Ogg stated that there is more to come. “This investigation is not over yet,” he said.

Sonoma County District Attorney Carla Rodriguez told the Press Democrat on Tuesday that she was aware that DEMA’s work in Sonoma County was under investigation and that the FBI may be involved, but referred a reporter to Cregan for further comment.