Women SV: Domestic Violence Non- Profit Acts as Spying Agency to Earn More Attorney Fees

Non- Profit Founder Ruth Patrick Dubbed West Coast Ghislaine Maxwell

​For at least five years Ruth Patrick was the blue- eyed blond Santa Clara County DA Jeff Rosen and private divorce lawyers Jim Hoover and Nicole Ford  used to bring in divoce case business, raise money for political campaigns and launder money through a non- profit known as WomenSV,

WomenSV is  a charity that purports to help victims of domestic violence. The organization is based in Los Altos, California and caters to  women in Silicon Valley's affluent  suburbs. Women coming to the organization are vulnerable, struggling with broken marriages and intimate partner challenges. Women seeking help from Ruth Patrick have no idea she is spying and selling their secrets to the highest bidding divorce lawyers. Some women have complained that under the auspices of helping, Ruth brought in private security companies and administrative help to get information that is sold to abusive spouses, and their lawyers for money that never hits the non-profit books. 
 
Grooming Victims to Prey On Them

Sally, not her real name, was introduced to Ruth by a clerk at the Hoover Krepelka law firm. Sally had sought help from Travis Krepelka for a divorce case and was told 
Ruth and her charity might be able to help. 

Initially Sally was told Ruth had rules to keep victims safe and to protect their privacy. Phones were not allowed in group support meetings and speakers were regularly brought in to teach the women how their wealthy Silicon Valley spouses might be stalking and surveilling  them. There were Signal and What's App for their phones, and helpful security businesses downloaded the victim's computer and phone data, most women never suspecting a thing. Many thought it felt like a spy class that was intended to keep them safe, few realized they were the ones being spied on. 

Under the pretense of " support" Ruth attended the victim's' meetings with their lawyers. She reportedly recorded these meetings and gave the recordings to the opposing spouses lawyers. There were pods of lawyers who came to the group as " guest speakers" and were really there to spy for their clients.

Fundraisers Doubled as Sex Auctions 

Jenny noticed Ruth's obsession  with  fundraising in Silicon Valley's wealthiest communities. Each year Ruth held her own event known as the Gilded Cage Fundraiser. Little did victims of domestic violence know Ruth was secretly recording them at these events and sending their photos around to Silicon Valley's most powerful businessmen and perverts, Jenny finally got suspicious when one of the private security firms Ruth regularly pitched in support meetings asked if Jenny would be willing to wear a wire and entrap men for sex , that would be filmed and used to extort  them in their divorce cases or political careers. 
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Two years into the group and Jenny realized Ruth was less about helping victims of domestic violence and more about promoting her social and financial status in Silicon Valley's affluent community. 

Ruth received a Jefferson award , and grants from the Los Altos businesses. She spoke at the Mt. View Chamber of Commerce and soon began making swings for the DA's political fundraisers. It was by early 2020 that Jenny began to notice Ruth was doing little for victims, and lots for herself. And the money Ruth was moving and collecting did not add up. Victims felt pressured to donate cash that was not  being reported. Fundraisers that made thousands of dollars in wine and art auctions translated to no extra services for women in need of help. 

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Santa Clara County DA Jeff Rosen launders money through Women SV in the name of charity

 Buying Off the Local DA

In 2016 women seeking Ruth's help for domestic violence issues noted Ruth Patrick became obsessed with Jeff Rosen, a local DA who had run unopposed in 2014. Ruth made appearances at Rosen's political fundraisers and appeared to make networking in the local legal community her main priority. When a criminal case is filed where there is a related family court case, the private divorce lawyers earn more in attorney fee awards in a divorce case. 

Jenny and Sally also began to notice that divorce lawyers connected to Ruth appeared to be getting more help from the local DA than other women were getting. in cases  Ruth regularly referred Jim Hoover, Nicole Ford, Sean Onderick and Hector Moreno to to represent women who had attended support groups where these lawyers were speakers. 

In 2020 when Women SV was forced to take their weekly meetings to Zoom, the women hatched a plan and recorded speakers Jim Hoover and the DA Jeff Rosen and caught them in their lies. They then moved into a Sting Operation designed to catch Ruth Patrick and her accomplices. 

In one WomenSV meeting, Jim Hoover told victims of domestic violence that local judges did not believe in coercive control, a factor necessary to determine a finding of domestic violence in a family law case.  In previous meetings Hoover  had indicated these judges would not rule favorably in a domestic violence case unless a victims had  the " right" lawyer. Hoover also was heard pressuring victims to go into private judging, where Hoover's clients could secret their abuse by taking the case outside of public court. The private judges Hoover recommended were Irwin Joseph, Michael Smith and Ed Barra. An audit of these cases show private judges issuing orders for attorney fees at a rate higher than elected judges, and in a manner that benefits lawyers working with Patrick. 

Lawyers Leaking Information 

WomenSV victims who sought help from attorney  Jim Hoover faired the worse. Cases  involving Hoover and Nicole Ford , the lawyer pitched as Ruth Patrick's go to DV expert, saw the most fees going to opposing lawyers. In this case, Hoover represented a victim from WomenSV, but reportedly sold the victim's confidential papers to her husband's attorney. The husband was awarded the family home and full custody of the couple's children  shortly after Hoover leaked the paperwork and emails , a work around for formal discovery. 

A snap of their fingers and Jim Hoover and Nicole Ford could get information on Ruth's victims that they could used in court to take children  from their mothers  and to sell the family home such they these lawyers would earn more  in attorney fees. 

Bribing Judges 

According to papers believed to be leaked by Santa Clara divorce attorney Elise Mitchell, much of the money Ruth Patrick collected in the name of charity has gone to bribe judges in domestic violence cases. The Mitchell Papers show payments to Judge Cindy Hendrickson , a family court judge who was reportedly close to Patrick and who was elected to the bench in June 2018 following the Recall of Judge Aaron Persky. 

Links to Monterey County Commissioner Stoner and Judges in San Mateo are also believed to be linked to the scam. The Mitchell Papers  indicate  attorneys Rory Coetzee and Debra Crawford have been funneling money to judges in the Salinas/ Monterey area where the Monterey County DA and the state bar have received several complaints. 

Secret recordings from Women SV will be linked here.