The leader of a New York-based nonprofit that promises to bail out black transgender criminals has been charged with stealing nearly $100,000 in donations.
“Dominique” Morgan, 42, of the Okra Project, has been charged with one count of second-degree grand larceny and 23 counts of first-degree falsifying business records.
According to the Okra Project’s website, the organization “is focused on supporting Black Trans people and alleviating the barriers that our community faces. We envision a safe, abundant, and equitable life for Black Trans people across the United States, and our service pillars reflect this vision.”
Morgan is accused of making up fake transgender people that the organization was supposedly providing aid to. Instead, he was “using the money for personal benefit,” according to a press release from Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez.
While serving as the organization’s executive director, Morgan was paid a salary of over $200,000 annually.
The press release from Gonzalez’s office states:
The District Attorney said that the defendant served as the Executive Director of the OKRA Project, a Brooklyn-based not-for-profit that provides mutual aid and other resources to the Black Trans community throughout the country. Her annual salary was over $200,000. While not an official program, the defendant, in her role as director, announced that OKRA would start bailing people out of jail, although she allegedly did not take any steps to get the initiative up and running.
It is alleged that between July 14, 2022, and July 27, 2022, the defendant had approximately $99,000 transferred to her personal account in order to purportedly use those funds to pay for bail. Instead, she used the money on a $19,000 California Closet renovation, car payments for a Mercedes Benz, purchases at apparel stores and other expenses including meals.
When asked by OKRA for proof of the payments toward bail, she allegedly submitted purported bail receipts for 23 individuals who were supposedly arrested in Fulton County, Georgia, and Douglas County, Nebraska. An audit by OKRA revealed that those receipts were fraudulent and that no such persons were arrested in those counties at the time.
The Okra Project has since terminated Morgan’s employment.
According to a report from LGBTQ Nation, “Morgan previously worked as the executive director of prison abolition nonprofit Black & Pink and has served as program director for Borealis Philanthropy’s Fund for Trans Generations since December 2022. Borealis Philanthropy hasn’t commented on the Brooklyn DA’s indictment.”
“Last year, the Nebraska native had a street in Omaha named after her, the first formerly incarcerated person in the state and the first Black trans woman in the U.S. to receive a similar honor,” the report continued. “As a youth, Morgan was incarcerated for 10 years, including 18 months spent in solitary confinement.”
Morgan was released without bail and ordered to return to court on December 18, 2024.
If convicted, Morgan faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison.
