Leader of Twin Cities violence intervention nonprofit charged with wage theft, swindling
The Hennepin County Attorney's office has charged a Twin Cities pastor with felony wage theft, and theft by swindle.
Reverend Harding Smith runs a nonprofit called Minnesota Acts Now to provide violence intervention services.
Back in July of 2023, several of his former employees told WCCO that he was holding back wages, and coercing or threatening them to volunteer their hours.
At the time of our story, the City of Brooklyn Park did an investigation and found no payroll issues with its contract. But there was also a criminal investigation based on the employee complaints, which is how the state says it uncovered the alleged wage theft in a separate contract with Hennepin County.
According to a criminal complaint filed this week, Smith signed a contract with Hennepin County in 2021, where the county would reimburse him to pay workers $35 per hour, along with some other expenses.
The complaint says investigators found most employees were paid $20 per hour — a few got $25 or $30, but only Smith and his Wife were paid the full $35 per hour, leaving a nearly $150,000 discrepancy in payroll records.
Prosecutors say that, in an interview, Smith acknowledged he paid employees less, but denied any fraudulent intent and said he didn't use funds from the group's account for his personal benefit.
Smith's attorney calls the charges "baseless," and says Smith was fully transparent spending money on other operations' costs. He says Smith will fight the charges.
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