LANSING, Mich. -- Nkechy Ezeh is heading to federal prison for nearly six years for embezzling a large amount of money from the nonprofit Early Learning Neighborhood Collaborative.
Ezeh, 61, was sentenced in federal court Wednesday to five years and 10 months in prison, after which she will be on supervised release for three years.
The Grand Rapids-based ELNC was forced to close in 2023 after $1.4 million was embezzled. Ezeh will have to pay that back in restitution and reimburse the IRS for nearly $400,000 dollars in back taxes.
Ezeh founded the organization and was its CEO. But investigators say she instructed the Collaborative's bookkeeper, Sharon Kay Killebrew, to produce about a half-million dollars in fraudulent invoices. Killebrew was sentenced last November to four-and-a-half years in prison and ordered to pay restitution.
Sabo P.R. provided a court statement from ELNC Board Chair Amy DeLeeuw:
Your Honor,
My name is Amy DeLeeuw and I was the President and Treasurer for the Early Learning Neighborhood Collaborative also known as ELNC. I am one of three board members who courageously held fast to their commitment to ELNC after six other board members left promptly when the fraud was first discovered. I would not be here today without their continued support. Let me first start by thanking you for allowing me to speak to you today. The events that caused the demise of ELNC are well known to you by now. The theft of millions of dollars perpetrated by two women left hundreds of children and families without the necessary resources to prepare them for kindergarten and beyond. The devastation has no measure and the adverse ramifications of the theft will last for many years to come.
I have to admit that the statement I am making to you today is not the original statement I prepared several weeks ago. After reading the sentencing memorandum filed by Dr. Ezeh’s attorney on April 29, I felt the need to change my statement. My original statement focused on the victims of this fraud and theft. I tried to place myself in the shoes of the children, families, employees and donors of ELNC and communicate to you the depth of the loss they felt. I hope the written statement I submitted to the Court effectively expressed the sentiments I originally wished to convey today.
However, all of that changed when I read the Sentencing Memorandum submitted by Dr. Ezeh’s attorney. To be frank, I was angry by what I read. Much the same as I witnessed at Dr. Ezeh’s plea hearing where Dr. Ezeh made NO EFFORT to articulate to the court the crimes she has committed, I read the same lack of accountability in her memorandum. I then felt both the need and the obligation to address the statements made in that memorandum, which I believe are deeply insulting to all those affected by these egregious acts of theft and fraud.
Dr. Ezeh’s memorandum opens with her childhood spent in Nigeria. Dr. Ezeh was clearly raised in a loving supportive family structure. What the memorandum leaves out is that Dr. Ezeh was a member of an affluent household in her home country of Nigeria. In Dr. Ezeh’s own words from her self-published book “Nwaenyi: Child of an Elephant” Dr. Ezeh’s father was a very successful businessman owning a series of gas stations, a bakery, a fish hatchery, a farm and a construction company. Dr Ezeh writes in the book that “we were well off financially” and “we were not just “making it” with three meals a day and a roof over our heads; we were finely dressed and had seven people working for our household including three females for housework”. Dr. Ezeh also writes “ Our family was one of the first in our village to afford a modern home equipped with modern facilities. We grew more food than we were able to keep.” It is clear that Dr. Ezeh was accustomed to living at a socio-economic level much higher than others in her village and that, based on her own writings, maintaining that image was VERY important to her. The memorandum also leaves out an interesting story that is written in chapter 15 of Dr. Ezeh’s book titled “Owning my Mistakes”. In her book, Dr Ezeh recounts how she took advantage of the kindness of the nuns in her community by entering their home when the nuns were not present, eating their food, and trying on their sacred tunics and headpieces. She then lied to the sisters when they returned home and questioned her about the missing food and disturbed items. In the book, Dr. Ezeh describes these acts as “normal childhood behavior”. I would disagree. Even today, Dr. Ezeh is making an “explanation” for that behavior so as to “excuse” it. Dr. Ezeh only “owned the mistake” of stealing food and entering the nun’s unoccupied home AFTER she was caught. It seems that rationalizing theft is not unfamiliar territory for Dr. Ezeh.
The filed sentencing memorandum reads like an introductory speech for someone who is about to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. Its tone is grandiose, self-celebratory and lacks the humility or remorse of a person about to be sentenced to prison for stealing millions of dollars from preschool aged children. While there can be no doubt about Dr. Ezeh’s ambition, education and ability, there is doubt about WHERE and HOW Dr. Ezeh chose to exercise those talents. While Dr. Ezeh was “saturating the educational world with processes” as noted on page 8 of the memorandum, the staff at ELNC were floundering. After the fraud was uncovered, I learned a great deal from the employees about the level of chaos that was evident throughout the entire organization. I learned from one former employee that there was so much chaos at the Kalamazoo location, the newly hired staff did not even know how to implement the job descriptions of the family coaches, a program developed by Dr. Ezeh herself. Office equipment and computer systems at the ELNC offices were broken, outdated and useless.ELNC never had a functioning computer server and backup system because Dr. Ezeh would not approve a system that linked all computer programs…..and risk exposing her crimes. While Dr. Ezeh was providing women with financial stipends, as noted on page 9 of the memorandum, the preschools receiving assistance were resentful because they often received funding late, for less than the promised amount, or not at all. While Dr. Ezeh was busy traveling first class to Australia, China, Dubai, India, Japan, Malaysia, Nigeria, Qatar, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand and Zambia on “business trips” as noted on page 8 of the memorandum, the staff of ELNC were struggling to implement the strategic objectives of the organization due to the fact that each employee’s job description was constantly changing, the reporting hierarchy frequently shifted from person to person, and staff were not empowered to make decisions that did not involve the approval of Dr. Ezeh herself. If Dr. Ezeh’s calling in life was “to be devoted to uplifting children and families” as noted on page 6 of the memorandum, evidence of that devotion was certainly lacking in the way she managed ELNC, its employees and its programs.
To be sure, Dr. Ezeh is very proud of her accomplishments AND especially of her numerous community awards. In fact, I am aware of one incident where Dr. Ezeh refused to attend a preplanned major ELNC fundraising event so that she could attend a conflicting community event where she was expected to receive an award. While Dr. Ezeh was being presented with the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce Distinguished Community Trustee Award, she was stealing money from ELNC. While she was being honored with the Aquinas College Distinguished Service Award, she was double-billing expenses to both ELNC and Aquinas College for trips of dubious purposes. And at the time she received the Charles Eugene Beatty Courageous Leader Award, Dr. Ezeh was creating shell companies through which funds were funneled to finance her daughter’s wedding, transfer money to relatives, and support a lavish lifestyle—all under the pretext of ‘helping others.’
Dr. Ezeh’s memorandum attempts to recast the theft of millions of dollars as altruism. But stealing from charitable foundations to enrich family members, friends, and her village in Nigeria is not service to others—it is fraud. Are we truly being asked to accept a Robin Hood narrative here—that Dr. Ezeh’s theft of millions of dollars from charitable foundations should somehow be viewed more favorably because some of the money was directed toward people she personally wished to help? That is not charity. That is a misuse of trust, authority, and donor funds.
While I have no doubt, Dr. Ezeh provided support to others, I also believe that Dr. Ezeh intended to enrich herself not only financially but also through the enhancement of her own inflated ego. I am sure that Dr. Ezeh was regarded as something of a celebrity in her village, and that the support she provided there using ELNC funds greatly amplified her sense of self-importance and indispensability. As I noted earlier, maintaining the image of an affluent chief’s daughter was VERY important to her. While the concept of providing food, clothing, shelter, sanitary supplies and other items to the people of her village is admirable, Dr. Ezeh needed to make those contributions out of her ample annual salary of $174k a year from ELNC or from her tenured professor’s salary at Aquinas College. Instead, Dr. Ezeh started a foundation in her mother’s name in Nigeria and funded it with ELNC dollars that SHE KNEW were contractually REQUIRED to be spent in Grand Rapids, Battle Creek and Kalamazoo.
Was Dr. Ezeh’s all-consuming drive to SERVE at the forefront of her mind when she was charging lavish dinners on the ELNC credit card at 5-star restaurants for herself and others? Was the seat at the table Dr. Ezeh was seeking so badly, as noted on Page 10 of the memorandum, located at a struggling preschool in Grand Rapids, or was it at Leo’s Seafood Restaurant and Bar?
I didn’t think I could be any further appalled by the memorandum until I read on page 10 where “those close to Dr. Ezeh believe her position of control combined with her relentless desire to help others sometimes led her to push forward without exercising the level of scrutiny and caution she should have.”Excuse me? Are we referring to the same crimes? This is not about sound decision making and scrutiny. This is about Dr. Ezeh willfully and purposefully fabricating invoices and splitting the proceeds of those fraudulent payments with herself, her director of finance Sharon Killebrew, her family and her friends. This is about founding two fraudulent companies, using the identities of friends and former employees without their knowledge or consent, to file incorporation papers with the state of Michigan. This isn’t about a failure to obtain “board approval” for the above transactions. This was not an isolated lapse in judgment. These were pervasive, systemic, and willful decisions Dr. Ezeh made to defraud the company she founded of millions of dollars, and reallocate those funds to serve her own interests. It doesn’t matter WHO she helped or didn’t help. It was not her money to spend. Even if it could be proven to be true, no preschoolers or their parents care that the “vast majority of the funds were used to support and assist others in need” as stated at the top of page 12 of the memorandum. They just know that services intended for them are no longer available.
I am further baffled by the statement on page 11 of the memorandum from a “friend” who happens to also be a professor of criminology at Grand Valley State University. In the memorandum, she states that “individuals with deep vocational commitment and strong moral purpose sometimes make poor procedural decisions with undeniably good ends”. I have two issues with this statement. One: people with strong moral purpose do not willfully commit crimes, they must disengage from that moral purpose in order to commit crimes. Prominent psychologist and Stanford University professor Dr. Albert Bandura describes the process of moral disengagement individuals use to justify harmful actions and absolve themselves of guilt: abandonment of morals to justify bad actions, the using of sanitized language to describe harmful acts, displacement and diffusion of responsibility, and minimization of the consequences of their actions. Criminal acts take place not as a result of an overactive moral purpose, but as a result of an active disengagement from those morals. Two: We are not talking about poor procedural decisions made by Dr. Ezeh. These crimes were not a result of failure to provide appropriate documentation or a failure to obtain the appropriate board approvals. These crimes were intentional, brazen and indiscreet. Not a single one of these crimes is the result of a failure to follow the policies and procedures set forth by the ELNC Board of Directors or the guidelines of the grant and funding providers, and to characterize these crimes as anything but blatant theft is an insult to every person who has worked on behalf of ELNC to help a deeply underserved community. The memorandum indicates on page 11 that Dr. Ezeh failed to do her due diligence.Please tell me what “due diligence” is required before forged signatures are written on a check? What process is required to be followed before paying for your daughter’s wedding reception with stolen funds? I would challenge that Dr. Ezeh’s “process” was a great deal worse than just “flawed” as noted on the bottom of page 11.
I took the time to read each of the letters from Dr. Ezeh’s friends and family.I would like to point out a few notable comments from those letters:
Two of the letters describe Dr. Ezeh’s criminal activities as “poor judgment or poor decision making”. Five of the letters describe the theft of millions of dollars as a “situation” or an “offense” much like a traffic ticket. One letter writer describes the crime as a “misuse of funds” rather than a theft of funds.Another letter writer describes the theft and fraud as an “unfortunate misstep”. And shockingly, a supporter describes the theft as “failure to follow proper protocol…lacking board approval”. I am genuinely curious what these supporters actually know about the reality of Dr. Ezeh’s crimes. Do they know about fictitious invoices? Do they know about the creation of fraudulent shell companies? Do they know about the use of money mules to move cash? Indeed, one of the supportive letter writers was actually listed as a signatory to the fraudulent company’s checking account and was also listed as a founding director on the incorporation paperwork filed with the State of Michigan for the same fraudulent company. Does she know this? In short, I find many of these letters show extreme bias and turn a blind eye to the severity of the crimes committed.
On page 13, the memorandum points out that organizations in other states are replicating the programs implemented at ELNC. I can only assume that the memorandum is referring to the Empowering Parents Impacting Children program developed by Dr. Ezeh otherwise known as EPIC. When first confronted with the fraud in April of 2023, and before being forced to acknowledge her actions in the face of overwhelming evidence, Dr. Ezeh was very quick to accuse the ELNC board of intellectual property theft of the EPIC program as the reason behind her firing.Dr. Ezeh went so far as to have her attorney at the time, Steve Drew, publish amedia statement that included that accusation along with several other accusations intended to shift the narrative away from the theft and fraud she was accused of. If indeed organizations in other states are implementing the EPIC program, I trust that any residual revenues from the sale of this intellectual property are being used to reimburse the millions of dollars stolen from ELNC.
While Dr. Ezeh has experienced numerous health problems as documented in the memorandum, I am sure that she is grateful she wasn’t forced to take the low value, high-cost health insurance plan offered to her employees at ELNC. Dr. Ezeh’s strict control over ELNC finances ensured that employee benefits were kept to a minimum and she encouraged her lowest paid employees to apply for Medicaid in lieu of offering adequate healthcare coverage. In fact, Dr. Ezeh was so concerned about having enough money to sustain her theft, she routinely denied employees the opportunity for professional development citing budget constraints as the reason. Dr. Ezeh’s control over the funds of ELNC was so pervasive, she frequently refused even the smallest of requests such as donuts for a staff meeting or a pizza party for a newly hired or departing employee.
My conclusion from the contents of this memorandum is that the defense is angling for a reduced sentence for Dr. Ezeh because she is a devoted servant who spent SOME of the stolen funds on others. I won’t argue that Dr. Ezeh has had some positive effects on the Grand Rapids community and its people within. But it is painfully obvious to me that Dr Ezeh’s good works, particularly in countries abroad were only able to occur as a RESULT of the theft. If Dr. Ezeh had used her own money to fund all of these “good works”, we would very likely not be here today. Additionally, and most importantly, we are not a society where we justify our criminal acts by the number of people who benefited from the crime. The children and families who are no longer able to take advantage of the services once provided by ELNC were definitely not beneficiaries of the theft.
To summarize I would like to reiterate the “explanations or root causes” provided by the defense for Dr. Ezeh’s criminal actions. Dr. Ezeh stole millions of dollars from ELNC because:
1) Page 9. Dr. Ezeh’s consuming drive to help everyone caused her to lose focus and find herself in the situation she is today
2) Page 10. Dr Ezeh’s position of control combined with her relentless desire to help others sometimes led her to push forward without exercising the level of scrutiny and caution she should have
3) Page 11. Dr. Ezeh focused so deeply on helping everyone that she failed to ensure that every decision was sound
4) Page 11. Dr Ezeh believes the unrealistic expectations she placed on herself contributed to her decisions related to the instant matter.
5) Page 11. Dr Ezeh made poor procedural decisions
6) Page 11. Dr Ezeh’s failure was a result of process, a lack of boundary setting and an over reliance on flawed counsel.
7) Page 11. Dr. Ezeh failed to do her “due diligence”
8) Page 11 Dr. Ezeh’s process was severely flawed
9) Page 12 Dr. Ezeh used the vast majority of the funds to support and assist others in need
Not one of these “root causes” resonates with me as the true reason for the theft of millions of dollars. The “explanations” are laughable, and I am not led to believe that Dr. Ezeh is genuinely accepting responsibility for her actions. Rather, it is a cheaply disguised attempt to portray Dr Ezeh as a “savior of women and children” who simply lost her way.
Page 17 of the memorandum states that “it is everyone’s hope that the ripples of her work will continue while she adjusts, to begin making waves again”.I am not sure what “adjustment” the memo is referring to but I do know that I for one do not want Dr. Ezeh to being making waves.. of any kind.. ever again. All I want is for Dr. Ezeh to repay the millions of dollars she stole, serve her prison sentence, and quietly retreat into the background for the remainder of her life. She has done more than enough damage to the Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo and Battle Creek communities. We have had more than enough waves coming from Dr. Ezeh to last a lifetime.
In Chapter 9 of her self-published book, Dr. Ezeh recounts a story where she threw a rock at her brother causing an injury. She writes the following: “ Papa not only wanted me to apologize, but also to name what it was that I had done.”Part of Dr. Ezeh’s accountability MUST include “naming” the crimes she has committed. At the plea hearing, I heard Dr. Ezeh’s attorney affirm the crimes she has committed. I have read the crimes she has committed in the plea agreement, I have heard AUSA Clay Stiffler articulate the crimes Dr. Ezeh has committed. But… I have yet to hear those admissions come from Dr. Ezeh herself.
I will admit, this crime is personal for me. My husband and I donated over $20,000 to ELNC in the last years of its existence. I now know that the money WE donated did not go to the purposes WE intended. Since I was very clear in designating the use of those funds, I am also confident that the processes, procedures, due diligence and scrutiny required to appropriately allocate our donations were completely ignored, and the funds were used for whatever purpose Dr. Ezeh deemed important TO HER. This experience has left me drained, frustrated and wary of ever serving on a board again, or even just volunteering a few hours a week at an organization with whom I am not intimately familiar.
I am placing my trust inyou to impose the harshest of penalties both in sentencing and in restitution for the crimes committed by Dr. Ezeh even so far as to exceed the sentencing guidelines. The processes were not faulty. The procedures were not flawed. The due diligences, policies, approvals and scrutiny required of Dr. Ezeh were well developed and communicated by the ELNC board of directors both verbally and in the written financial policies of ELNC. The guidelines of the Early Head Start Program and the contracts with the funding organizations were not at all ambiguous. Dr. Ezeh made a conscious decision
·to ignore all the policies and procedures,
·to lie about the actions she was taking,
·to oversee the creation of fraudulent financial statements to hide the theft from the ELNC board,
·to create two fraudulent shell companies to funnel money through,
·to hire money mules to receive stolen funds and route the money back to her,
·to approve fictious invoices,
·to abuse the ELNC corporate credit cards,
·to double charge expenses to ELNC and Aquinas College,
·and to forge signatures on bank checks to gain access without anyone else knowing.
The number of people hurt during the perpetration of these crimes is too numerous to detail. Untold numbers of children, their families, the ELNC employees who worked in the chaos and then lost their jobs, the board, the individual donors, the communities who honored her with awards, and funding organizations were all duped by a woman whose sole purpose was to take every dime she could from the organization she founded and leave chaos in its wake. As the architect of this theft, Dr. Ezeh should serve a sentence that is commensurate with the severity of the crime, the many victims she left behind and the lack of accountability she repeatedly demonstrates for the crimes she committed.