PHILADELPHIA _ Health club memberships, political contributions and $3,000 line dancing lessons are among the expenses that a well-connected Philadelphia lobbyist is accused of illegally charging to a state grant program meant to help welfare recipients land steady work.
Now, Melonease Shaw, who has at times worked as the city's lobbyist in Harrisburg, faces a court hearing next week on charges including theft, deceptive business practices and tampering with public records.
The case, filed last month by the Attorney General's Office in a magisterial district court in Harrisburg, centers on Shaw's work as president and CEO of the nonprofit Transitional Work Corporation. The organization received $32 million in Department of Public Welfare grants between 2007 and 2011 to provide welfare recipients with paid work experience through a city program.
But, prosecutors say Shaw, 62, misused more than $250,000 during that period to purchase items that were not allowed under the terms of the grants the organization had received. In addition to personal expenses, she allegedly dispensed grant funds to cover more than $26,000 in catering expenses, $51,000 in transportation and parking fees for her staff, and more than $3,500 worth of flowers that she and other staff members charged to the nonprofits corporate credit cards.
Shaw and her lawyer, Kandis Lynn Kovalsky, did not return calls for comment Monday.
According to the criminal complaint in her case, Shaw's spending first drew the attention of Pennsylvania Office of the Inspector General in 2011.
In addition to the stolen grant funds, she also stands accused of granting a heavily discounted sublease to her personal lobbying and marketing firm, Maven Inc., at Transitional Work Corporation's offices on the 14th floor of the Land Title Building.
Though Maven was supposed to pay Shaw's nonprofit nearly $174,000 to rent the space between 2009 and 2011, the company only gave just more than $63,000, according to court filings.
In seeking government reimbursement for its own rent payments, Transitional Work Corporation did not mention the rental income it was receiving from Shaw's lobbying firm.
Maven Inc., which has received thousands in city grants and contracts over the years and lists Peco Energy and SugarHouse Gaming among its clients, has drawn scrutiny in the past.
In 2006, the company received $90,000 from the now-defunct Minority Venture Partners, a venture capital loan program set up to help minority business development. The program was a branch of the Philadelphia Commercial Development Corporation, the quasi-government agency at the time run by Curtis Jones Jr., now a city councilman.
Maven, like a dozen other businesses that received a combined $1.5 million from Minority Venture Partners, didn't initially pay back the $90,000 loan she received. The city took her to court and settled last year on $40,000.
Maven also received $86,667 in city lobbying contracts for work advocating for the city in Harrisburg between 2010 and 2011. Shaw touted her work at Transitional Work Corporation in her application packet for the job.
"Throughout her career, she has always been keenly interested in the needs of women and people of color," she wrote of herself in a resume submitted with her contract application. "She has worked to enhance the skills of women transitioning from welfare to work."
Shaw has been a longtime political donor. Since 2007, she has contributed more than $40,000 to Democratic candidates for city and state offices.
