Director Of LI Charity Found Guilty Of Embezzlement

The former director of a Nassau-based charity for special needs people was found guilty on Tuesday of embezzling money from the charity.

Wafa Abboud, 51, of Merrick, was the former executive director of Human First, a not-for-profit group that provides services to developmentally disabled people. Abboud was found guilty of embezzling funds, bank fraud and money laundering. When sentenced, she faces up to 30 years in prison.

“With today’s verdict, Abboud has been held accountable for abusing her position of trust as the executive director of a charity and funding her elaborate lifestyle with money intended to serve the needs of vulnerable individuals in the community,” said United States Attorney William Donoghue.

According to Donoghue, from January 2011 until she was fired on May 27, 2016, Abboud was in charge of disbursing all of the charity's funds. During that time, she spent about $16,000 on consultant fees to MPB Management Services LLC, a company controlled by her co-conspirator, Marcelle Baily. Each month, Abboud would write two checks for $8,000 to MPB, and would deposit one of the checks into bank accounts in MPB's name that she controlled.

In total, Abboud stole $420,000 from the charity. She used the money to pay for her personal expenses, including a trip to Disneyland in California, tickets to the Broadway show “Newsies,” visits to luxury spas and high-end beauty salons, cosmetic surgeries and international wire transfers. Abboud also withdrew nearly $120,000 in cash from the accounts.

Abboud also embezzled more than $440,000 from Human First with her co-conspirator Rami Taha, another consultant who Abboud hired to work at Human First. Abboud approved inflated construction invoices that were submitted by Taha, and then wrote checks to his company. Taha would then give the money back to Abboud.

Abboud used the money to put a down payment on a house and to pay for renovations. When her mortgage lender asked her about the source of the money, Abboud tried to hide the embezzlement and told the lender the money was part of a settlement payment she received for damage to her prior home. She also gave herself a raise to obtain the mortgage, bringing her annual salary to $479,000, but did not receive approval from the Board of Directors to do so.

Bailey pleaded guilty in December 2017 to embezzling funds and bank fraud, and Taha pleaded guilty in May 2019 to embezzling funds. A fourth defendant, Arkadiusz Swiechowicz, pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice in September 2018. They are awaiting sentencing.