Grad School Dean's Assistant From Warren Gets Prison For $1.3M Embezzlement

WARREN, NJ — A former assistant dean from Warren was sentenced to 36 months in prison for defrauding her former employer in a $1.3 million "embezzlement scheme" that went on for 13 years, federal prosecutors said.

Teresina DeAlmeida, 59, of Warren, and her co-conspirators, Rose Martins, 44, of East Hanover, New Jersey, and Silvia Cardoso, 61, of Warren, previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud before U.S. District Judge Julien Xavier Neals in Newark federal court.

Prosecutors didn’t name the specific university in a news release, but Seton Hall officials confirmed the incident took place at the university’s law school, NJ Advance Media reported. A spokesperson said the university "immediately conducted a more intensive review utilizing a third-party auditor and notified the appropriate higher education and government entities."

A spokesperson told Patch that the university uncovered the "financial irregularities" during a regular internal review.

"The defendant abused her position of trust as an assistant dean to orchestrate an elaborate embezzlement scheme for more than a decade," Sellinger said. "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."

"By choosing to utilize her position for illicit profit, Teresina DeAlmeida chose to enrich herself first and serve the students of the University last," said 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."

"Between 2009 and July 2022, DeAlmeida, Martins and Cardoso conspired to fraudulently misappropriate more than $1.3 million from their former employer," Sellinger said. "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."

According to prosecutors, the three defendants used a variety of methods to defraud the university:

• False Invoices - 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 in order to reimburse the vendor for the amounts fraudulently paid to Martins and Cardoso.
• Gift Cards - 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 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 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.
• Shell Company - 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 fraudulent invoices totaling more than $208,000, which DeAlmeida approved.
• Credit Card - The conspirators also used DeAlmeida’s school-issued credit card to make tens of thousands of dollars in unauthorized personal purchases. 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, DeAlmeida was sentenced to 2 years of supervised release and ordered restitution of around $1,397,000.

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