Southern Queens Park Association Non Profit Project Manager Pleads Guilty to Wire Fraud: Falsified Time Sheets, Invoices Stole “10s of thousands of dollars”

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WPCNR FBI WIRE. From the Federal Bureau of Investigation, December 13, 2020:

Friday, in federal court in Brooklyn, Ingris Coronado pleaded guilty to a criminal information charging her with defrauding her former employer, Southern Queens Park Association (SQPA), a government-funded, Queens-based not-for-profit that provides educational and other social services to young adults.

 Friday’s plea took place before United States District Judge William F. Kuntz, II. 

When sentenced, Coronado faces up to 20 years in prison, as well as forfeiture and a fine of up to $250,000 for submitting false invoices and cashing checks issued in the names of other individuals. 

Since at least 2014, Coronado worked as a Project Manager for SQPA, which received millions of dollars annually in New York City government funding.  According to court filings and facts presented during the plea proceeding, between August 2014 and September 2018, Coronado engaged in a scheme to steal money from SQPA. 

Specifically, in her role as the supervisor of an after-school program run by SQPA, Coronado repeatedly falsified time sheets, collected checks issued in the names of more than ten of her supervisees and deposited those checks into her own bank account. 

On multiple occasions, Coronado also created false invoices for vendors for SQPA and deposited the resulting payment checks into her personal account.  As a result of her fraudulent conduct, Coronado stole tens of thousands of dollars from SQPA.

“For years, Coronado deceived her employer and abused her position at a not-for-profit organization by stealing funds that were meant to benefit members of the community,” stated Acting United States Attorney DuCharme.  “Today’s guilty plea makes clear that individuals who engage in fraud to satisfy their own greed at the expense of the community they are supposed to be serving will be brought to justice.” 

“Coronado stole money directly from a city-funded, not-for-profit program established to provide services to young adults. Today she’s admitted to her criminal activity and faces a significant jail sentence as a result of her behavior. Let this be a message to others who are currently scamming the system—there are consequences for your actions,” stated FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Sweeney.

“This defendant falsified timesheets and vendor invoices and pocketed checks issued to employees and vendors, amounting to tens of thousands of dollars – stealing taxpayer funds meant to help residents of southern Queens who rely on this nonprofit’s programming. DOI is committed to investigating these damaging crimes that attack our City’s charitable organizations and diminish the impact of the City’s funding of their programs. We are proud to have partnered with the office of the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York and the Federal Bureau of Investigation to hold this defendant accountable for her conduct,” stated DOI Commissioner Garnett.

The government’s case is being handled by the Office’s Public Integrity Section. Assistant United States Attorney Nathan Reilly is in charge of the prosecution. 

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