Former Controller of the Hereditary Disease Foundation Charged with Embezzlement

In Former Controller of Medical Nonprofit Is Charged With Embezzling $1.8 Million, the New York Times reports that Karen Alameddine, who served as the controller of the New York-based Hereditary Disease Foundation from September 2005 through January 2014, has been charged with embezzling more than $1.8 million of the nonprofit’s funds.  Further details appear in the story: 

Federal prosecutors in Manhattan said in a criminal complaint unsealed on Tuesday that Ms. Alameddine began diverting money by disguising entries in the foundation’s accounting software “to make what in reality were transfers to her personal bank account appear as if they were wire or bank transfers” to grant recipients.

 

The government said Ms. Alameddine, who also went by Karen Dean, worked for the organization in recent years from her residence in Perris, Calif. The funds she diverted went into accounts she controlled with names like Abacus Accounting, Chez Cheval Ranch, Dean & Co. and Karen Dean Exports, the complaint said.

The alleged scheme reportedly came to light after Alameddine’s departure, when the foundation investigated a complaint from a grant recipient that he had not yet received his check from the foundation.

JRB