Feds: Baldwin woman accused of stealing $2.3M from her nonprofit employer

A Baldwin woman allegedly embezzled $2.3 million over a 16-year period from her employer, a Brooklyn-based nonprofit that provides jobs to the economically disadvantaged and those with emotional, developmental, and physical disabilities, federal prosecutors said.

A criminal complaint unsealed Wednesday in federal court in Brooklyn charged Marcia Joseph, 57, with federal wire fraud. Prosecutors said she spent the money on home remodeling, spa treatments and luxury items.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Peggy Kuo released Joseph, who was arrested earlier Wednesday, on $50,000 bond.

If convicted, she faces up to 20 years in prison.

"Joseph lined her pockets with millions of dollars that she stole from a charity,” said Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York. “Money that should have gone to support those with employment and educational needs instead was used to pay for the defendant’s personal expenses, including mortgage payments, spa treatments, home remodeling, and landscaping."

Joseph's attorney, Kyla Wells of the Brooklyn Federal Defenders office, declined to comment.

Prosecutors said Joseph, while serving as the senior fiscal officer for the undisclosed nonprofit organization, set up a company known as Prestige Business Services, which purported to provide specialized services to the Brooklyn-based company.

But Prestige existed only on paper, performing no work, and was instead utilized by Joseph to allegedly embezzle more than $2.3 million during a 16-year period, charging documents state.

Joseph used the money for personal expenses, including about $235,000 in mortgage payments; $207,000 for credit card bills; $98,000 in car payments and $45,000 in Amazon expenses, prosecutors said. Joseph also withdrew nearly $100,000 in cash, distributed $16,000 to friends and family and issued approximately $50,000 in Prestige checks to herself, officials said.

Jocelyn Strauber, commissioner of the New York City Department of Investigations, said Joseph also submitted fictitious invoices for services, some of which were supposedly related to city contracts.

“Depleting resources procured for those with special needs is among the most egregious of financial crimes," said James Smith, assistant director-in-charge of the New York field office of the FBI. "As we allege today, Joseph did just that by embezzling millions of dollars from the company for which she worked, diverting money away from programs for those in need and right into her pockets."

By Robert Brodsky

robert.brodsky@newsday.com@BrodskyRobert

Robert Brodsky is a breaking news reporter who has worked at Newsday since 2011. He is a Queens College and American University alum.