Former Head Of Essex County Nonprofit Guilty: Fraud, Tax Evasion

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — The former executive director of an Essex County-based childcare and community program and a partner in a political fundraising and consulting company admitted to wire fraud and tax evasion, prosecutors announced Monday.

Kiburi D. Tucker, 42, of Newark, pleaded guilty before a federal judge in Newark to one count of wire fraud and four counts of tax evasion, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office (New Jersey district).

According to court documents and statements, as the executive director of The Centre Inc. in Newark, Tucker embezzled funds through ATM, debit card and bank withdrawal transactions to fund personal expenditures such as gambling, travel and furnishing his home.

Tucker defrauded The Centre Inc. of $332,116 from 2012 through 2015, prosecutors said.

According to prosecutors, Tucker also intentionally under-reported the proceeds that he took from The Centre Inc. to the IRS. He intentionally under-reported the income that he received for tax year 2015 from his partnership in Elite Strategies, a political fundraising and consulting company, by filing false federal personal income tax returns. Tucker admitted that he was responsible for underreporting $177,040 in income from the above sources for the 2015 tax year, resulting in a tax loss of $56,509.

The count of wire fraud is punishable by a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The count of tax evasion is punishable by a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 27, 2018, prosecutors said.

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