Update on the Corey Bruins Affair

Reporter Robert Vardon at the OB-Point Loma Monthly (which is a publication of the Union-Tribune) picked up our story about Corey Bruins, the former head of the OB Town Council forced to resign in early 2024, and now facing 9 felonies.

Based on his reporting, here are more details of the Bruins’ affair.

Bruins is 34. At his arraignment on March 28 where he pleaded not guilty, he was ordered by the court not to possess any “personal identifying information” about current board members Jenny Brengelman, Shelly Parks and Stephanie Kane of the Ocean Beach Community Foundation, which succeeded the Town Council after the board decided last year to drop the Town Council name after nearly six decades because of the scandal.

The Community Foundation is a nonprofit organization founded in 2000 and acquired by the Town Council in November that year. …

The charges were filed March 6 after a lengthy investigation by the San Diego Police Department’s Financial Crimes Unit, which gained access to account data previously unavailable to the board, according to the Community Foundation.

Vardon’s article referenced The OB Rag (an extreme rarity for the U-T aligned newspapers) and that our report alleged Bruins to have embezzled $134,471 from the Town Council and attempted to steal an additional $123,563 from the council’s bank accounts.

A declaration filed by police alleged that Bruins raided the Town Council’s PayPal and Venmo accounts and credit cards and used stolen identities to open other accounts and lines of credit linked to the Town Council, the Rag reported.

The allegations focus on Bruins’ actions between March 1, 2018, and Jan. 31, 2024.

Bruins is not in custody while awaiting his court hearings.

That’s a whole lot of money to have alleged to have embezzled or stolen to be able to walk around on his own recognizance. Here’s more from Vardon:

When the scandal came to public light in January 2024, the Town Council revealed that the organization had failed to file required forms with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service during Bruins’ tenure, first when he was treasurer beginning in 2017 and then when he was president starting in 2021. That led the IRS to revoke the Town Council’s tax-exempt 501(c)(4) nonprofit status as a social organization.

Bruins had became the sole authorized agent and signatory of the council’s primary bank accounts. An independent audit reported in preliminary findings in May 2024 that thousands of dollars were unaccounted for in the various bank accounts and credit cards held by the Town Council, some of which had been charged off and sent to collections.

The scandal has led to turnover on the board and some public skepticism toward the Community Foundation’s assurances of transparency.

Plus, it allowed different photos of Bruins other than the 2 we had.