Countywide

Project JOVE, a job counseling agency whose questionable financial practices are the target of a state investigation, went out of business Thursday with the filing of Chapter 7 bankruptcy, an attorney for the agency said.

“Project JOVE will be liquidated,” said bankruptcy attorney Richard A. Peterson. “It will not emerge a viable agency.”

Project JOVE’s demise was prompted by a decision Tuesday by the San Diego County supervisors to end the county’s contract with the agency. An audit had revealed $47,559 of county money was not accounted for in JOVE’s financial records.

For 14 years Project JOVE had provided job counseling for veterans, ex-convicts and the unemployed in the San Diego. In March, 1984, the agency had 8,000 clients and 162 employees.