Nkechy Ezeh admits $1.4m fraud conspiracy in US case

Nkechy Ezeh fraud case as former nonprofit executive pleads guilty to conspiring to steal $1.4m and evade taxes in a US federal court

Nkechy Ezeh, a former executive director of the Early Learning Neighbourhood Collaborative, has pleaded guilty in a United States district court to conspiring to defraud a federally funded nonprofit organisation of about $1.4 million and to evading federal taxes.

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Nkechy Ezeh, an associate professor of education, admitted to wire fraud conspiracy and tax evasion charges in court filings that detail a years-long scheme involving falsified invoices, shell entities and concealed conflicts of interest.

According to the plea agreement, the fraud ran from at least 2017 to 2023 and involved Sharon Killebrew, the organisation’s director of finance and administration, who generated and approved fictitious invoices at Ezeh’s direction for goods and services never delivered.

Prosecutors said the fraudulent invoices totalled approximately $470,100 and were submitted for payment through the organisation’s accounts.

Court documents state that part of the misappropriated money was kept by Killebrew, while the rest was transferred to Ezeh, her company PONA Consulting, and other individuals under her control.

Investigators said Ezeh also failed to disclose her involvement with another nonprofit entity, Early Years Coalition, which received more than $227,000 in grants despite not operating any preschools during its brief existence.

Records show that most of that money was paid directly to Ezeh and her associates for work that was never performed.

Prosecutors further alleged that Ezeh created a third entity, Global Open Learning and Development Preschools, using stolen identities and without registering it as a tax-exempt organisation, before directing additional fraudulent payments to it.

In addition to the fraud charges, Ezeh admitted to deliberately failing to declare income and pay federal taxes on the proceeds of the scheme between 2017 and 2022.

The unpaid tax liability was calculated at about $390,174.

Under the plea agreement, Ezeh has agreed to forfeit $1.19 million and to pay full restitution to the nonprofit organisation and the Internal Revenue Service, with the final amounts to be determined at sentencing.

The wire fraud conspiracy charge carries a potential sentence of up to 20 years in prison, while the tax evasion offence carries a maximum of five years’ imprisonment, in addition to fines and supervised release.

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Sentencing has not yet been scheduled.

Ibrahim Onipede