Clement Gardner, the financial officer for a charity founded by Bronx State Sen. Ruben Diaz, Sr., was arrested yesterday for stealing $75,000 from the organization, according to Attorney General Eric Schneiderman– funds that were intended for programs to serve Bronx children and seniors.

Diaz, Sr., founded the organization, the Christian Community Benevolent Association, in 1977 and served as the executive director for the nonprofit  until 2002, and directed nearly $500,000 in public member item money to the group in 2006 and 2007, according to the New York Times. Diaz told the paper he was “shocked” by the news.

In a press release sent out this morning–one of his now very regular “What You Should Now,” blasts–Diaz addressed the charges and said Gardner, whom he called a “former staff and
close ally,” had brought “shame to one of the best Bronx not-for profit organizations that ever existed.”

According to an article in the Daily News, another charity associated with the Christian Community Benevolent Association, called Christian Community in Action, was investigated by the FBI in 2008 for a home attendant program largely funded with public money secured by Diaz and his son, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr., who was a state assemblyman at the time. Both men served on the charity’s board of directors then, according to the article,

Diaz Sr. has not been accused of any wrongdoing in the case against Gardner, according to the Times.  He defended himself in today’s press release.

“For now, my dear reader, you will have to wait for the results, but I assure you that if I ever lose my salvation, it will not be for taking money because I am in the business of giving not in the business of taking,” Diaz wrote.