The Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) is holding grant funds earmarked for the Blue Hills Civic Association (BHCA) in escrow until an audit of BHCA finances is complete, according to a letter sent in May to members of the Senate Republican Caucus.
DECD directed the BHCA to return approximately $2.6 million in undispersed state and federal funds in May, according to a letter it sent to members of the Senate Republican Caucus. BHCA was the victim of a $300,000 wire theft earlier this year, which they delayed reporting to state officials, and is part of a federal grand jury investigation into how Hartford-area nonprofits are spending and distributing funds.
BHCA, a Hartford nonprofit that administered state grant money, offered community services such as housing assistance, and ran a youth summer jobs program, abruptly laid off its staff in April after DECD froze its grant money after it delayed reporting that a $300,000 wire transfer it was sending to another nonprofit was intercepted. According to reporting from CT Insider, while the theft occurred in December 2024, BHCA did not notify its governing board until mid-March.
CT Insider reported that during the delay between when the funds were stolen and when they were reported to state officials in late May, BHCA executive director Vicki Gallon Clark reached out multiple times to Sen. Doug McCrory, who pushed the allocation of the $5 million in federal pandemic funds to BHCA through the legislature.
McCrory also pushed hundreds of thousands of dollars of grant funding to the Society for Human Engagement and Business Alignment (SHEBA), which is operated by a “close associate.” Both SHEBA and the BHCA are reportedly the focus of a federal grand jury investigation into Hartford-area nonprofits handling of state and federal grants.
In April, Senators Henri Martin, Rob Sampson, and Stephen Harding sent a letter to DECD asking whether BHCA had returned all undispersed state funds as the agency had ordered it to do in March when BHCA reported the theft to the state on March 21. They also asked DECD what penalty BHCA was facing for apparently violating a contractual agreement to notify state officials of suspected theft within two weeks of it occurring.
In their reply, DECD said they understood BHCA had approximately $1.9 million in state funds at the time, as well as $730,000 in federal funds.
They also stated they had begun an independent financial audit of BHCA’s financial records and federal grants it received between July 1, 2022, and March 31, 2025, and would be holding grant funds in escrow until the audit was completed and “next steps determined.”
While the full scope of the full federal investigation is unknown, both McCrory and SHEBA president Sonserae Cicero Hamlin are the subject of subpoenas issued to DECD by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut, as are a number of nonprofits tied to SHEBA through grant funding, DECD, and the Minority Business Initiative.
Hartford-based attorney Kevin T. Henry, who previously opened a cannabis shops in Hartford, has also been named in the subpoena. Henry has a number of ties to McCrory, including serving as deputy treasurer for his 2018 Senate campaign, as well as ties to Cicero Hamlin.
“BHCA is working cooperatively with DECD to address issues highlighted by the incident. The grant funds will be held in escrow with DECD until the requested actions are completed and next steps determined,” DECD Commissioner Daniel O’Keefe wrote in the response letter.
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly said the stolen funds came from ARPA dollars rather than from state grants.
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