Former NYU Finance Director Charged With $3.5 Million in Fraud
“To justify the payments, the companies submitted fictitious invoices drafted by Tappe and pasted on their letterhead, the indictment said.”
The money she allegedly stole was intended for women and minority owned businesses.
ABC News reports:
Former New York University finance director charged with orchestrating fraud
A former New York University director of finance was charged Monday with orchestrating a six-year fraud.
Cindy Tappe, 57, allegedly diverted $3.5 million intended for women- and minority-owned businesses and for other programs into bank accounts held by two shell companies she created and then used the money to pay personal and luxury expenses, including renovations to her Westport, Connecticut, home, according to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.
Tappe is charged with money laundering, grand larceny, offering a false instrument and falsifying business records.
“Our multilingual learners and students with disabilities deserve top-notch services, and these funds should have gone directly to their schools,” said Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. “Instead, we allege, the funds meant for student programs were used purely for personal gain by an NYU Director of Finance, who renovated a home in Connecticut and bought a swimming pool with the money.”
The New York State Education Department awarded NYU $23 million to administer a bilingual education program and a program meant to help special education. Some of that money was supposed to be used for grants to minority- and women-owned businesses.
Instead, according to the indictment, Tappe arranged for three certified minority- and women-owned business subcontractors to receive the overwhelming majority of the grants. NYU paid the three companies approximately $3.527 million to provide services related to the grants. To justify the payments, the companies submitted fictitious invoices drafted by Tappe and pasted on their letterhead, the indictment said.
None of the companies performed work on the contracts, according to court documents. Instead, they allegedly functioned as pass-throughs, taking between 3% and 6% of the invoice amounts as “overhead,” and sending the remainder of $3.352 million to two fictitious shell companies created by Tappe: High Galaxy, Inc. and PCM Group, Inc.
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Comments
So I wonder which .gov people took off with the other $19.5M. Has the program bought any paintings recently?
Government by grant is completely out of control, apparently at the state level as well as federal. The idea that grant recipients can re-grant or subcontract is a recipe for fraud.
“Crazy white chick college admin caught embezzling funds.”
I’m gonna suggest to the guy who runs fakehatecrimes.org that he diversify with a new website. He’s already got all the needed code.
Until you consider the fact that her parents named her Yuan Meng. Crazy white chick???
Maybe Henry means it’s a college for crazy white chicks? Just a thought.