A Nigerian-born education professor in Michigan has been sentenced to nearly six years in federal prison for stealing 1.4 million dollars from a nonprofit serving low-income preschool children, causing the organisation to collapse and 35 workers to lose their jobs.
Chief United States District Judge Hala Y. Jarbou sentenced Nkechy Ezeh to 70 months in federal prison, with a concurrent 60-month sentence for tax evasion. The court ordered her to repay 1.4 million dollars to victims and an additional 390,174 dollars to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and remanded her to custody immediately at sentencing.
Ezeh founded the Early Learning Neighborhood Collaborative (ELNC), a Michigan nonprofit that provided meals, transportation, advocacy and other services to disadvantaged preschool children. Prosecutors from the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Michigan said she systematically diverted taxpayer and donor funds meant for those children to finance her own lifestyle.
Among her expenditures, prosecutors said Ezeh funded a family member’s wedding, travel to Hawaii, Europe and Africa, placed relatives on a ghost payroll, and used money mules to transfer hundreds of thousands of dollars to family members in Nigeria.
“Nkechy Ezeh’s greed is beyond reprehensible,” said United States Attorney Timothy VerHey.
Judge Jarbou described Ezeh at sentencing as “a fraud and a thief,” adding that the scheme was brazen and widespread. ELNC shut down in 2023 as a result of the fraud, abruptly ending services for vulnerable children and terminating the employment of 35 staff members.
Before her conviction, Ezeh had been widely recognised in Michigan. She was named West Michigan Woman of the Year in 2018, served twice on the state’s Early Childhood Investment Corporation Executive Committee, and held a tenured professorship in education.
