Former Officers of DC Trust, Sentenced for Using Organization’s Funds for Personal Gain

            WASHINGTON – The former Executive Director and the Director of Operations and Finance, of the now-defunct non-profit organization DC Children and Youth Investment Trust Corporation (“DC Trust”), were sentenced today for a felony charge relating to their personal use of the non-profit’s funds, announced U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, Inspector General Daniel W. Lucas, District of Columbia’s Office of the Inspector General, Special Agent in Charge Wayne A. Jacobs of FBI Washington Field Office’s Criminal and Cyber Division, and Special Agent in Charge Terry Harris, of the US Department of Education Office of Inspector General for the Eastern Region.

            Edward Davies, 52, of Owings Mills, Maryland, was sentenced to 60 days in prison, followed by three years of supervised release; Earl Hamilton, 53, of Riviera Beach, Florida, was sentenced to 30 days in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. Both defendants pleaded guilty, on November 30, 2022, to a charge of credit card fraud for using the non-profit’s monies, intended for youth scholarship programs, for personal expenses. In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Court Judge Reggie B. Walton ordered Davies to pay $111,332.46 in restitution and ordered Hamilton to pay $44,049.79 in restitution.

            According to court documents, Davies, the former executive director, and Hamilton, the former director of operations and finance, used DC Trust credit cards and a check card to make hundreds of personal purchases for expenses such as: meals, automobile repairs, exercise equipment, and personal travel for themselves, their family members, and their friends. In total, Davies stole at least $111,000 and Hamilton stole at least $44,000.

            The DC Trust was a non-profit organization, created in 1999, to serve as an intermediary to connect philanthropists, government leaders, youth advocates, and representatives from the business community in order to support programs to benefit the children of the District of Columbia.  The organization was dissolved in late 2016, reportedly to cover debts from exorbitant spending on and by staff, including the misuse of organization credit cards. The trust’s funding came from the U.S. Department of Education and consisted of federal grant funding under the U.S. Department of Education Opportunity Scholarship Program (“OSP”), which was designed to provide low-income parents, residing in Washington, D.C., with expanded options for the education of their children. 

            In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Graves, Inspector General Lucas, Special Agent in Charge Jacobs, and Special Agent in Charge Harris, commended the work of those who investigated the case from the D.C. Office of the Inspector General, the FBI’s Washington Field Office, and the U.S. Department of Education Office of the Inspector General.  They also expressed appreciation for the work of those who handled the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia in the Fraud, Public Corruption, and Civil Rights Section, including Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kathryn Rakoczy and Diane Lucas have been litigating the case, with assistance from Paralegal Specialists Amanda Rohde and Lisa Abbe.