Nigerian-Born Professor Pleads Guilty to $1.4m Wire Fraud in US

Nkechy Ezeh, a Nigerian-born associate professor of education and former executive director of the Early Learning Neighbourhood Collaborative (ELNC), has pleaded guilty in a United States district court to charges of wire fraud, conspiracy, and tax evasion.

Ezeh admitted to orchestrating a sophisticated scheme that defrauded the US government and private donors of approximately $1.4 million between 2017 and 2023.

The funds were misappropriated from ELNC, a Michigan-based nonprofit organization funded by the US Department of Health and Human Services.

According to court documents, Ezeh conspired with Sharon Killebrew, the organization’s Director of Finance and Administration, to generate $470,100 in fictitious invoices for goods and services that were never delivered.

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Killebrew reportedly retained a portion of the diverted funds, while the remainder was funneled to Ezeh, her consulting firm (PONA Consulting), and other associates.

Web of Deceit Prosecutors revealed that Ezeh further concealed conflicts of interest by failing to disclose her involvement in the Early Years Coalition (EYC), another nonprofit linked to the fraud.

Although EYC received over $227,000 in grants, it did not operate any preschools during its six months of existence. Instead, Ezeh directed over $212,000 of these funds to herself and her consulting firm for work that was never performed.

The plea agreement also exposed Ezeh’s use of stolen identities to incorporate Global Open Learning and Development Preschools (GOLD), an entity that received fraudulent payments despite never being registered as a tax-exempt organization.

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Tax Evasion Beyond the fraud, Ezeh admitted to willfully evading federal income taxes on the proceeds of her crimes.

Prosecutors stated that she failed to report income derived from the conspiracy for the tax years 2017 through 2022, resulting in an unpaid tax liability of $390,174.

“Defendant knew that she had tax due and owing each year… and also knew that she was legally obligated to file truthful income tax returns,” the court documents read.

Consequences As part of her plea deal, Ezeh has agreed to forfeit $1,193,900 and pay full restitution to both ELNC and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The final restitution amount will be determined at her sentencing.

She now faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for the wire fraud conspiracy charge and up to five years for tax evasion, in addition to fines and supervised release.