How Nigerian Prof. Nkechy Ezeh stole $1.4m meant for poor children in America

By Tolulope Oke

A United States District Court has sentenced Nkechy Ezeh, a Nigerian-born professor and former executive director of the Early Learning Neighborhood Collaborative (ELNC), to 70 months in federal prison for orchestrating a massive fraud scheme that stole $1.4 million in taxpayer and donor money intended for vulnerable preschool children in West Michigan.

Chief U.S. District Judge Hala Y. Jarbou did not hold back in her condemnation of Ezeh, calling her a “fraud and a thief” for her “brazen and widespread” theft of funds meant for some of the region’s most vulnerable children.

In addition to her prison sentence, the court ordered Ezeh to pay $1.4 million in restitution to the victims of the fraud and $390,174 to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

Ezeh was remanded immediately to begin serving her sentence.

Timothy VerHey, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Michigan, described Ezeh’s actions as “beyond reprehensible.” He added, “She stole taxpayer and private-donor dollars meant for low-income children in our community. Instead of helping kids, she spent that money on herself. The stolen money could have supported hundreds of West Michigan children and their families. Judge Jarbou’s sentence was perfectly appropriate.”

Ezeh, the 2018 West Michigan Woman of the Year, a tenured professor of education, and former member of the State of Michigan’s Early Childhood Investment Corporation’s Executive Committee, founded ELNC, a non-profit that received funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the U.S. Department of Education, along with private donors.

The organisation was tasked with providing essential services to children in underserved communities, including meals, transportation, and advocacy.

However, from 2017 to 2023, Ezeh conspired with Sharon Killebrew, ELNC’s former bookkeeper, to defraud the organisation of millions. As a result of the fraud, ELNC had to shut down in 2023, leaving many preschools without crucial funding. The closure also forced the layoff of 35 employees without notice, and most devastatingly, thousands of children lost access to the resources that ELNC once provided.

In a sentencing memorandum, the U.S. Attorney’s Office revealed that Ezeh used the stolen money to fund her lavish lifestyle, paying for a family member’s wedding, as well as travel expenses for trips to Hawaii, Europe, and Africa. She also placed her relatives on a ghost payroll, siphoning hundreds of thousands of dollars from ELNC for little or no work. Furthermore, she used money mules to wire large sums of stolen funds to her family in Nigeria.

The victims of this crime were not only the donors—the U.S. government’s Early Head Start program, the U.S. Department of Education, and Michigan’s largest charitable foundations—but the children and their families who relied on ELNC’s services. According to U.S. authorities, many of these children were from underprivileged backgrounds, with 72% living below the federal poverty level in some of the poorest neighborhoods of Kent County, Kalamazoo, and Battle Creek.

In response to the fraud, Special Agent in Charge Thomas Ethridge of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) said, “This case underscores the seriousness of misusing federal grant funds for personal gain. Our commitment to protecting the integrity of HHS programs remains steadfast.”

The investigation was conducted by HHS-OIG and the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Clay Stiffler serving as the prosecutor.