The former assistant dean of Seton Hall Law School and her co-conspirators were sentenced on Thursday, Dec. 5 to three years in prison for a 13-year embezzlement scheme that defrauded the school of more than $1.3 million.
Teresina DeAlmeida and co-conspirators Rose Martins and Silvia Cardoso pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in a Newark federal court in July, according to northjersey.com.
Seton Hall spokesperson Michael Hyland said that the sentencing of a “former long-time, trusted Seton Hall Law School employee” concludes a case that was uncovered through the university’s internal review process.
“While the actions of those involved violated the trust of our community, they do not represent the values and integrity that define Seton Hall University,” Hyland said.
Hyland added that the university has implemented enhanced safeguards, which include “strengthened financial controls and oversight procedures that are focused on the continued integrity of Seton Hall’s operations.”
The news comes after an email to the university community in September 2022 announcing the discovery of “irregular financial transactions” occurring within the Law School’s administration. In November of that year, the dean of Seton Hall Law, Dr. Kathleen Boozang, announced her resignation. In December, it was announced that an investigation into these irregularities uncovered a “series” of embezzlement schemes.
Dr. Boozang started working at the law school in 1990 and became the dean in 2015. It is still unclear if her resignation was connected to the investigation. According to class offerings for the upcoming spring 2025 semester, Dr. Boozang is still employed by Seton Hall Law in a faculty capacity.
In addition to the 3-year prison term, DeAlmeida was sentenced to two years of supervised release and ordered restitution of nearly $1.4 million.
One of the accusations in the lawsuit of former president Dr. Joseph Nyre against Seton Hall was alleging former Chairman of the Board of Regents Kevin Marino “interfered” with the ongoing investigation into embezzlement at the university’s law school. According to the lawsuit, Dr. Nyre alleged that Marino regularly communicated with former dean Dr. Boozang in an effort to help her get a seven-figure settlement before the investigation concluded.
Jenifer Piovesan, special agent in charge of IRS Criminal Investigation at the Newark Field Office, said in a press release published by the Department of Justice that DeAlmeida chose to “enrich herself first and serve the students of the university last.”
The Department of Justice also published the specific charges incurred against DeAlmeida and her co-conspirators.
Source: https://www.thesetonian.com/article/2024/12/former-law-school-assistant-dean-sentenced-to-prison
Former Assistant Dean Sentenced To 36 Months In Prison For Million-Dollar Embezzlement From Essex County Graduate School
NEWARK, N.J. – A former assistant dean of an Essex County graduate school was sentenced yesterday to 36 months in prison for defrauding her former employer of more than $1.3 million, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced.
Teresina DeAlmeida, 59, of Warren, New Jersey and her co-conspirators, Rose Martins, 44, of East Hanover, New Jersey, and Silvia Cardoso, 61, of Warren, NJ, previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud before U.S. District Judge Julien Xavier Neals in Newark federal court.
“The defendant abused her position of trust as an assistant dean to orchestrate an elaborate embezzlement scheme for more than a decade. In doing so, she and her co-conspirators stole more than $1.3 million intended to benefit the school and its students. My office is committed to relentlessly prosecuting those who commit financial frauds.”
U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger
“By choosing to utilize her position for illicit profit, Teresina DeAlmeida chose to enrich herself first and serve the students of the University last,” stated Jenifer L. Piovesan, Special Agent in Charge, IRS Criminal Investigation, Newark Field Office. “Financial fraud like this will not be tolerated and IRS Criminal Investigation will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to root out and investigate these financial crimes.”
“Trust is an intangible thing, a faith that people who have access to large sums of money won’t steal it. DeAlmeida took funds meant for students at the university and did so for more than a decade,” FBI Acting Special Agent-in-Charge Nelson I. Delgado said. “Students and most average citizens cannot see into finances of institutions, to question where it’s going and why it’s missing. The FBI Newark and our law enforcement partners have the tools to investigate wrongdoing and hold accountable those who don’t think anyone will notice $1.3 million is missing.”
“I am proud of the contribution of OIG Special Agents in holding former Assistant Dean DeAlmeida accountable for her criminal actions. Her willful diversion and theft of funds that were intended for the school and its students was completely unacceptable,” said John Carlo, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Education Office of Inspector General’s Eastern Regional Office. “The OIG will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to protect the integrity of Federal education funds.”
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
Between 2009 and July 2022, DeAlmeida, Martins, and Cardoso conspired to fraudulently misappropriate more than $1.3 million from their former employer, a graduate school of a university in Essex County, New Jersey. During the scheme, DeAlmeida was an assistant dean responsible for financial functions, and Martins served as her assistant. Cardoso, DeAlmeida’s sister, was also employed by the graduate school in a support staff role.
The defendants used a variety of methods to defraud the university. For instance:
• Beginning in 2009, DeAlmeida directed a graduate school vendor to pay Martins and Cardoso as though they worked for the vendor, even though they did not perform any services. DeAlmeida and Martins then caused the vendor to submit false invoices to the graduate school over the course of approximately four years to reimburse the vendor for the amounts fraudulently paid to Martins and Cardoso.
• From 2010 through 2022, DeAlmeida and Martins directed graduate school vendors to order hundreds of thousands of dollars of gift cards and prepaid debit cards the co-conspirators used for their personal benefit, and then to submit fraudulent invoices to the school purporting to be for goods and services that were never provided. The co-conspirators also misused DeAlmeida’s school-issued credit card to purchase hundreds of thousands of dollars of gift cards and prepaid debit cards from the school’s bookstore. DeAlmeida routinely fraudulently approved these charges and Martins forged the signatures of other employees on internal approvals.
• In 2015, Martins opened a shell entity called CMS Content Management Specialist LLC. Although CMS never rendered any services to the graduate school, Martins submitted, and DeAlmeida approved, fraudulent invoices totaling more than $208,000.
• The co-conspirators also used DeAlmeida’s school-issued credit card to make tens of thousands of dollars in unauthorized personal purchases. For example, DeAlmeida and Martins used the card to make over $70,000 in purchases at an online retailer shipped directly to their homes, including woman’s shoes, smart watches, and bed linens. DeAlmeida and Martins fraudulently altered certain receipts before submitting them to the school for payment.
In addition to the prison term, Judge Neals sentenced DeAlmeida to 2 years of supervised release and ordered restitution of approximately $1,397,000.
U.S. Attorney Sellinger credited special agents of the Internal Revenue Services, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Jenifer L. Piovesan in Newark; special agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge Nelson I. Delgado in Newark; and special agents of the Department of Education, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge John Carlo with the investigation.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Carolyn Silane and Aja Espinosa of the Economic Crimes Unit in Newark.
