Current, former San Francisco city employees accused of using public funds for own gains

San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins announced the charges Tuesday.

SAN FRANCISCO — One current and one former San Francisco city employee have each been charged with multiple felonies in a scheme that authorities said includes bribery, misappropriation of public money and a financial conflict of interest.

San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins announced the charges Tuesday against 53-year-old Lanita Henriquez, of Oakland, and Rudolph Dwayne Jones, 56, of Oakland. Henriquez is the director of San Francisco’s Community College Grant Program. Jones is a former city employee who is the founder and president for RDJ Enterprises, which according to its web site, offers “multifaceted professional services for Bay Area communities.”

It was not clear immediately who was representing the two. A message left with Henriquez’s city phone number was not returned. Calls to RDJ Enterprises were greeted with an answer and automated transfer to a sales pitch offering a special offer on a variety of products but no way of reaching Jones.

In a statement, Jenkins said police arrested Henriquez on Tuesday morning after a superior court judge issued a warrant. Authorities also issued a warrant for Jones’ arrest but were still looking for him.

Agents from the FBI’s San Francisco office and the DA’s Public Integrity Task Force worked on the investigation, Jenkins said.

Prosecutors charged Henriquez and Jones with one count of misappropriation of public money and six counts of bribery, Jenkins said. They also charged Henriquez with 23 counts of financial conflict of interest and Jones with 23 counts of aiding and abetting a financial conflict of interest, she said.

According to Jenkins, the criminal complaint alleges that Henriquez and Jones took public money and put it to their own use from July 2016 to July 2020. Jenkins said prosecutors believe that Jones paid Henriquez a series of checks between February 2017 and October 2018 totaling $25,000.

Prosecutors also allege Jones controlled entities in which Henriquez had financial interests between July 2016 and July 2020, and that Henriquez put together 23 contacts between Jones’ entities and the city and county of San Francisco totaling more than $1.4 million, Jenkins said.

The two are next set for an arraignment at a hearing date not yet announced.