The CEO of a major Bay Area mental health provider says the nonprofit’s former CFO siphoned nearly $100K through fraudulent invoices, prompting a police investigation.
Richard Williams, the ex-financial chief of Caminar, filed fraudulent invoices totaling $99,375 for consulting services the nonprofit did not receive, CEO Mark Cloutier told this news organization Wednesday.
The nonprofit hired independent investigators, who traced the payments to a “fictitious” business entity “directly associated” with Williams, Cloutier said.
Williams said the claims of embezzlement are not true.
“In a nutshell, I dispute Caminar’s contentions,” he wrote in a statement. “The consulting work I performed for Caminar was at the direction of CEO Mark Cloutier. I did not resign due to any ‘investigations.’”
Cloutier said the nonprofit’s $50 million budget wasn’t impacted enough to disrupt care and the stolen funds were not taxpayer dollars. Of Caminar’s revenue last fiscal year, $42 million was public funding. The rest was a combination of grants, donations, program fees and investments, according to the nonprofit’s annual report last year.
“We believe our partners and donors deserve to understand what was done to us and how we addressed that,” Cloutier said.
Last year, Caminar held contracts with a slew of cities and counties, from Santa Clara County to Concord and the Fremont Union High School District. Staff provided therapy, addiction treatment, support and services to 48,000 people at treatment facilities, schools, jails and elsewhere.
Caminar is seeking repayment from Williams. Cloutier said the Redwood City Police Department opened an investigation into possible criminal misconduct by Williams.
“That is an open investigation, and we’re not going to provide any information at this time,” police spokesperson Jeffrey Clements wrote in an email.
The LinkedIn profile for the ex-finance chief lists Williams as living in Houston and working as a business consultant and brand ambassador for a mental health foundation.
According to the profile, Williams joined Caminar as CFO in January 2024 and oversaw financial strategy and operations. His annual compensation was $315,000, according to Cloutier.
Before joining Caminar, Williams worked as an executive for a Houston-based organization supporting autistic children, according to his LinkedIn profile, as well as for a different behavioral health provider and a credit union.
In the spring of 2025, Cloutier said, Caminar’s internal finance system flagged a suspicious invoice submitted for consulting services.
Caminar hired legal advisors, forensic accountants and a workplace investigator to investigate possible irregularities, Cloutier said.
After the investigations, he said, Williams resigned in September 2025.
Caminar has expanded its services in the past year. This month, staff opened a new teen mental health center in Palo Alto.