Who is Cindy Tappe? Ex-NYU admin charged with $3.5M fraud and spending huge portion to fund lavish lifestyle
MANHATTAN, NEW YORK: A former finance director at New York University has been accused of stealing $3.5 million in state funds and spending a significant portion of it on herself, including an $80,000 pool for her Connecticut home. The Manhattan District Attorney's Office said that Cindy Tappe, 57, was charged with stealing money from grants given out by the New York State Education Department over a six-year conspiracy that was uncovered in 2018 after she left NYU.
Some of the embezzled funds were used for grant-related expenses or staff reimbursements at NYU, but the indictment claims that at least $660,000 went directly into Tappe's personal coffers. She was accused of using the money for personal needs including the pool and home improvements in Westport, Connecticut, reported New York Post.
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The fraud began with a $23 million grant given to Tappe's workplace NYU's Metropolitan Center for Research on Equity and Transformation to fund state initiatives to aid English learners and special education students. Three of such subcontractors allegedly received about $3.5 million in grant money owing to Tappe's arrangements. She then prepared fictitious invoices on business letterhead for each of them, which allowed her to use two made-up shell businesses to receive a large portion of the money, according to the DA's office. An NYU program director approached Tappe about the purported payments to the subcontractors in September 2018. In response, Tappe stated in an email that NYU had “developed good working relationships with these companies,” and that she had “found no other companies that offer the same suite of services for price,” prosecutors said.
The state comptroller's office was informed of the theft when the prominent private university informed the Department of Education. The comptroller's office investigated the situation on its own and then forwarded it to the DA. In a statement, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg pointed out that, “Instead of going to school districts in need, those funds were used by Tappe to pay her mortgage, build a swimming pool, and live beyond her means.” Bragg added, “Our multilingual learners and students with disabilities deserve top-notch services, and these funds should have gone directly to their schools."
New York State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli said, “Cindy Tappe used her high-ranking position at NYU to divert more than $660,000 in state funds to companies she controlled to fund a lavish lifestyle.” Prosecutors said that "certified minority and women-owned business enterprises" were necessary to receive a portion of the payments in order to operate the programs.
In Manhattan Supreme Court on Monday, December 19, Tappe entered a not-guilty plea to a plethora of counts, including money laundering, grand larceny, presenting a fraudulent instrument, and falsifying company records. She was let go without posting bail.