Merrick Woman Sentenced To 33 Months For Charity Fraud: Prosecutors

BROOKLYN, NY — A Merrick woman was sentenced on Wednesday to 33 months in prison in connection to bank fraud by a judge in federal court.

Wafa Abboud was also ordered to forfeit $836,000 and pay more than $1.4 million in restitution to Human First, a nonprofit agency based in Lynbrook that she led for five years, prosecutors said.

"Stealing taxpayer money earmarked for developmentally disabled youth to pay for vacations, cosmetic surgery, and luxurious vacations is shameful," U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said in a statement. "Today, the defendant has been held accountable for betraying the most vulnerable among us whom she was entrusted to serve and treating the non-profit organization bank accounts as though they were her own."

Abboud was convicted following a two-week jury trial in July 2019 of theft from programs receiving federal funds, bank fraud, and conspiracies to commit those crimes.

From January 2011 until her termination in May 2016, Abboud was Executive Director of Human First, a nonprofit that provided services to individuals with autism and other developmental disabilities.

In total, Abboud stole approximately $420,000 between May 2011 and February 2016 through a MPB Management Services embezzlement scheme, the feds said.

According to court documents, Abboud also conspired with co-defendant Rami Taha to steal over $400,000 through a scheme in which Abboud deliberately issued overpayments to contractors performing work on Human First properties with the knowledge that the overpayment would be kicked back to her.