A felon filed for bankruptcy 3 times. Then Baltimore gave his nonprofit millions.

A felon filed for bankruptcy 3 times. Then Baltimore gave his nonprofit millions.

BALTIMORE (WBFF) — The Baltimore City and Maryland governments awarded a combined $4 million in taxpayer dollars to a nonprofit run by a convicted felon who filed for bankruptcy three times and pleaded guilty to two false-pretenses charges, one of which was against a municipal government, according to a Spotlight on Maryland investigation.

Garrick Good was first listed as the executive director of the Baltimore-based North East Housing Initiative (NEHI) in 2017—a position he gained after extensive legal and financial problems detailed in public records.

He went on to help secure awards of $3.25 million in taxpayer dollars through Baltimore City between 2023 and 2025, and another $835,000 through the Maryland state government between 2022 and 2024, according to government spending databases. NEHI received the money to develop affordable housing properties.

Spotlight on Maryland sent Good questions on Monday about his criminal and bankruptcy cases. The following day, Good resigned from his position at NEHI. He declined to comment on his legal history.

Court records reviewed by Spotlight on Maryland show that Good pled guilty in 2014 in South Carolina to two counts of obtaining property or signature under false pretenses.

A police affidavit stated that Good used a “forged letter” indicating approval for a $21 million loan, which he used “for the purpose of inducing the city of Greer” to transfer a $6 million property to him. Good was ordered to pay about $579,000 in restitution.

Good pled guilty in a separate South Carolina criminal case to a charge that stated he obtained more than $10,000 in architectural drawings “with intent to cheat and defraud.” The indictment stated that the drawings were secured for a Centers for Disease Control call center, “when in reality the project was never going to occur.”

Good was charged in 2010 in a Maryland criminal case in Prince George’s County for a bad-check related offense. However, staff at the county’s district and circuit court clerks’ office told Spotlight on Maryland they no longer have the case records. When asked about case records, the Prince George’s County state’s attorney’s office directed Spotlight to file a public information request, which is pending.

Sheila Weinberg, the CEO of Truth in Accounting, said that Good’s criminal cases should have disqualified his nonprofit from receiving taxpayer money.

“This is evidence that they're really not vetting the people who are running these nonprofits,” Weinberg told Spotlight on Maryland. “You would think that the city would want to vet the people who are getting the money and determine where the money is going to go exactly.”

A spokesperson for Mayor Brandon Scott’s office confirmed to Spotlight on Maryland that the City’s oversight measures do not include background checks for executives at taxpayer-funded nonprofits.

Good filed for bankruptcy three times prior to his time at NEHI. His first bankruptcy filing was in 1997 in South Carolina. Specific records in the South Carolina bankruptcy case are not available electronically.

In 2012, Good filed for bankruptcy in Maryland, listing more than $1.3 million in debts. An IRS tax-adjustment form in the case shows he owed nearly $52,000 in taxes, interest and penalties—about $20,000 of which was for a “civil fraud” penalty stemming from “underpayment attributable to fraud.”

The Maryland court found Good in civil contempt and revoked his bankruptcy discharge in 2014, meaning he lost the debt relief he had received earlier in the case.

The following year, Good filed for bankruptcy in Washington, D.C., and reported about $2.3 million in debt, including $500,000 owed to the City of Greer, South Carolina.

The D.C. Court granted Good a bankruptcy discharge in 2016 but allowed a mortgage holder to proceed with foreclosure on his Maryland house, valued at $488,000 in his Maryland bankruptcy case.

Another case Spotlight reviewed in Maryland revealed that a Fairfax County, Virginia, court ordered Good in 2019 to pay about $600,000 to a real estate company.

Amanda Beck, a professor at Georgia State University focused on nonprofit accounting and government audits, said Baltimore City and Maryland state officials should have considered Good’s background before giving his organization taxpayer dollars.

“At a very minimum, I would think that they would want to know how that individual was hired and what type of process the nonprofit's board went through in vetting the person who has that level of oversight and managerial power over the organization,” she told Spotlight on Maryland.

Danise Dorsey, NEHI’s chairwoman, did not respond to questions about whether the organization conducted a background check into Good before hiring him.

Beck said she found it ironic that Good filed for bankruptcy three times, then was hired to run a taxpayer-funded nonprofit.

“I think it is an unusual career path,” she said. “I would think that at that point, your track record would suggest that managing money is not a strong suit. And obviously a nonprofit needs to be able to manage money.”

Good resigned from his position at NEHI on Tuesday—one day after Spotlight on Maryland sent him questions about his legal and financial history.

“My decision is intended to allow NEHI's Board and leadership to remain focused on the organization's mission, its homeowners, completion of its housing pipeline, and the operational and financial matters presently before the organization,” Good wrote in an email to Spotlight. “My resignation does not change my view of what NEHI has accomplished or my commitment to ensuring that the organization's record is accurately represented. It should not be construed as an admission concerning any allegation, investigation, or matter presently under review.”

Good said that under his leadership, NEHI developed 42 homes for affordable housing. He claimed that not all the roughly $4 million in taxpayer dollars allocated to NEHI was billed to the government, as only about $2.3 million of those funds were provided as reimbursements.

Good declined to comment on his criminal and bankruptcy cases.

The Baltimore City and Maryland state governments previously told Spotlight on Maryland that they paused funding to NEHI last year amid a federal investigation into the nonprofit.

Good previously told Spotlight on Maryland that the federal investigation focuses on an anonymous donation of more than $2 million made to the nonprofit last year.

A spokesman for Mayor Brandon Scott told Spotlight on Maryland that oversight measures for grant-making in Baltimore City focus on “the nonprofit entity itself that applied for funding,” rather than the employees of those nonprofits.

“We do not perform personal background checks on an applicant's individual employees, its officers, or board members as our due diligence is related to the organization and its standing and not the individual personnel of an applicant,” Scott’s spokesperson wrote in an emailed statement. “The Department’s due diligence included review of the organization’s eligibility including financial documentation, project capacity, proposed development activities, property information, IRS status, and other requirements applicable to the funding awards.”

Scott’s spokesperson wrote that the city, through the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD), is taking action to ensure taxpayer money at NEHI is used appropriately.

“DHCD's ongoing project and compliance monitoring of grantees are precisely what led to the corrective actions we've taken with this grantee. In addition to seeking repayment, DHCD placed a hold on NEHI’s active awards with remaining balances and on pending awards that had not yet been encumbered. This action prevented additional funds under the affected awards from moving forward while the Department determined the appropriate next steps,” Scott’s spokesperson wrote.

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