Former Harlem Nonprofit Executive Sentenced For Embezzlement Scheme

HARLEM, NY — A former nonprofit executive and his wife will face years in prison for embezzling public funds for a program that delivered meals to senior citizens in Upper Manhattan, city officials announced Wednesday.

Kwame Insaidoo and his wife, Roxanna Insaidoo, will serve prison sentences of four and two-and-a-half years respectively, city Department of Investigation Commissioner Mark Peters said in a statement. Insaidoo and his wife were convicted of embezzlement, money laundering and fraud in May, officials said.

As the former executive director of the nonprofit organization United Block Association, Insaidoo transfered at least $500,000 of the organization's money to bank accounts held in the names of himself, his wife and his son, officials said. Insaidoo also authorized the transfer of money to a shell company called Allied Home Care, which was controlled by him and his wife.

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The stolen money was used to pay for a mortgage on a Long Island home, a vehicle and other personal costs, the DOI announced. Insaidoo and his wife were first arrested in 2016.

"The defendants’ greedy and callous actions of stealing from seniors and City taxpayers will now be repaid with prison time," Peters said in a statement.

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