A Missouri charity executive is facing serious federal charges after allegedly embezzling nearly $11 million meant for low-income children, spending the funds on luxury items like mansions and a flashy yellow Mercedes for her boyfriend. Connie Bobo, 46, who ran the New Heights Community Resource Center in Bridgeton, claimed to have spent $20 million of federally allocated taxpayer money intended to feed starving kids between February 2019 and March 2022, prosecutors said Tuesday.
Instead of using the funds for their intended purpose, Bobo reportedly splurged on herself and her family, purchasing seven properties, including a nearly $1 million mansion for herself in St. Charles. She also spent $2.2 million of the program's funds on commercial real estate investments. But the extravagance didn’t stop there—Bobo reportedly gave about $1.4 million to her boyfriend, Howard Hughes III, who used a portion of it to buy a Mercedes-Benz G550 Wagon 4X4 Squared, a flashy vehicle valued at around $212,000.
As the fraud began to unravel, Bobo allegedly used forged documents in a failed attempt to cover up her misdeeds. Prosecutors said she even listed her family members and friends as official board members of the nonprofit without their knowledge. One of those friends, Dacia Betts, testified that she was shocked to find out she had been listed as the vice president of New Heights after being contacted by the FBI.
Bobo’s defense attorney, Katryna Spearman, argued that her client never intended to break the law and tried to rectify the situation before her arrest. "Every step that Ms. Bobo took was for the best interest of the community and an attempt to give back," Spearman claimed in her opening statement during the trial.
However, the scale of Bobo's alleged theft and her lavish spending spree has left many shocked, with prosecutors emphasizing the stark contrast between her personal indulgences and the children the charity was supposed to help. The trial continues, as jurors weigh the evidence against Bobo in what prosecutors have called one of the most egregious cases of nonprofit fraud they’ve seen.
