PHOTO: Dorothy Ogundu was convicted in October of grand larceny, among other offenses. Photo Courtesy of the National Legal and Policy Center
By Forum Staff
The chief executive of a borough nonprofit has been sentenced to 1-3 years in prison for pilfering hundreds of thousands of dollars in public funds provided by the State, City Council, and federal earmark grants, according to Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, and City Department of Investigation Commissioner Mark Peters.
Dorothy Ogundu, M.D., was convicted in October on 29 counts, including second-degree grand larceny, forgery in the second degree, and first-degree offering a false instrument for filing. She was sentenced late last month.
According to authorities, Ogundu engaged in a scheme to defraud the City, State, and the United States, using her not-for-profit corporation, Angeldocs, Inc. The Hollis-based organization received a total of 12 government grants. Ogundu stole a portion of each of the grants by filing fraudulent requests for reimbursement and making false statements to the government agencies administering the grants.
Ogundu used the money she stole from these government grants to pay the mortgage and utilities on a commercial property she owned, make improvements to that property to increase its value, purchase and ship vehicles to Nigeria, and make other purchases for her personal benefit and for the benefit of her for-profit business.
“This defendant created a charade of good will to steal public funds intended to help others with their health care costs,” Peters said. “Prison time is a just result for this crime of theft and greed. We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners on these important investigations.”
According to investigators, Ogundu received two types of government grants for Angeldocs: program grants to support Angeldocs programs, and capital grants to improve the Angeldocs facility. To obtain payment on the program grants Angeldocs received, Ogundu falsely claimed that she spent grant funds on expenses related to various Angeldocs programs – primarily rental space for the programs. Ogundu diverted nearly all of the program grant funds to pay the mortgage and utilities on a commercial building she owned through a holding company, instead of using the building for the programs she promised to provide.
To obtain payment on the capital grants Angeldocs received, Ogundu claimed that she was building a state-of-the-art demonstration kitchen and making other capital improvements to a building that she falsely claimed was used by Angeldocs. Instead, Ogundu received kickbacks on the kitchen project from a contractor and diverted other capital grant funds to pay the mortgage on her building and other personal expenses, prosecutors noted.
As a result of the scheme, Ogundu stole approximately $300,000 in grants: approximately $91,000 from the City; approximately $67,000 from the State; and roughly $140,000 from the U.S.
“Today’s sentence sends a clear message: if you use taxpayer funds to line your own pocket, you will face serious consequences,” Schneiderman said in a statement. “We will continue to work with Comptroller DiNapoli and our law enforcement partners to use every tool at our disposal to crack down on anyone abusing the public trust.”
DiNapoli added that Ogundu’s prison term holds her “accountable for stealing from needy New Yorkers.”
