A Baldwin woman was sentenced to 21 months in prison on Thursday, Sept. 11, for embezzling over $2.3 million from her employer, a non-profit organization based in Brooklyn that provides employment and education services for those in need, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York.
Marcia Joseph, 59, had pleaded guilty to wire fraud in January 2024, and as part of her sentence was ordered to pay $2.3 million in restitution, authorities said.
“By stealing from a charity she was entrusted to serve, the defendant shamefully diverted resources from those in need to line her own pockets,” U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. said.
According to court filings and statements made in court, Joseph was a former senior fiscal officer for the non-profit organization and admitted to stealing $2,339,700 from it and funneling the funds to a sham company she had set up.
The invoices described services purportedly provided in connection with a New York City Department of Education program focusing on students in shelters and later job training for adults in shelters.
Over the course of nearly 17 years, Joseph generated and submitted more than 500 fictitious invoices and manipulated the nonprofit’s accounting systems to avoid detection, prosecutors said.
She used the stolen funds to pay for numerous personal expenses, including approximately $235,000 in mortgage payments, $207,000 in credit card payments, $98,000 in car payments, $45,000 in Amazon expenses and various other personal items, such as home remodeling, spa treatment, landscaping expenses and luxury goods.
“Marcia Joseph abused her position and access within a nonprofit charity to steal more than $2 million intended to fund critical employment and education services for the city,” FBI Assistant Director in Charge Christopher G. Raia said.
