Hennepin County Attorney’s Office charges Bishop Harding Smith with wage theft, theft by swindle

The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office has filed felony charges of wage theft and theft by swindle against Bishop Harding Smith, President and Founder of the nonprofit Minnesota Acts Now, for failing to pay his employees the required wage under the terms of his contract with Hennepin County.

The contract between Hennepin County and Minnesota Acts Now was effective August – December 2021 to provide violence intervention services. Mr. Smith also made false claims to Hennepin County that he was paying employees the wage required by the contract.

Based on a review of payroll records and timesheets, investigators calculated that Minnesota Acts Now reported total payroll expenses of $495,547.90 to Hennepin County but actually incurred total payroll expenses of only $346,209.31; a difference of nearly $150,000.

“Bishop Harding Smith failed to pay his employees what he agreed to as part of the contract with Hennepin County and then lied about it when seeking payroll expense reimbursements,” Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said. “As I said when our office secured the state’s first wage theft conviction, this behavior will not be tolerated.”

Case Number: 27-CR-25-13426

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