Ex-NYU admin siphoned $3.5M in grants and blew cash on herself — including an $80K pool: prosecutors

A former New York University director of finance allegedly siphoned $3.5 million in state funding and blew a chunk of the cash on herself — including on an $80,000 pool for her Connecticut home, prosecutors said Monday.

Cindy Tappe, 57, was charged with diverting funds from New York State Education Department grants into shell companies over a six-year scheme that was discovered in 2018, when she left NYU, according to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.

Some of the embezzled money went to expenses related to the grants or reimbursements for NYU employees — but at least $660,000 ended up in Tappe’s own pockets, according to the indictment.

She allegedly spent the dough on personal expenses, such as the pool and renovations on her home in Westport, Connecticut.

The scam started with a $23 million grant awarded to NYU’s Metropolitan Center for Research on Equity and Transformation, where Tappe worked, with the cash meant to go to state programs to help special education students and those learning English.

Cindy Tappe
Cindy Tappe, 57, was charged with diverting funds.
Steven Hirsch
Cindy Tappe
She allegedly spent the money on personal expenses, including a pool and renovations on her home.
Steven Hirsch

A percentage of the funds was required to go to “certified minority and women owned business enterprises,” which then would administer the programs, prosecutors said.

Tappe allegedly arranged for three such subcontractors to receive some $3.5 million in grant money. She then crafted fake invoices for each of them on company letterhead — allowing her to funnel much of the cash to two shell companies she created, the DA’s Office said.

In September 2018, an NYU program director confronted Tappe about the payments supposedly being made to the subcontractors.

Cindy Tappe's Connecticut home comes with plenty of space, and a pool.
Cindy Tappe’s Connecticut home comes with plenty of space, and a pool.
Google Earth
NYU
The scam started with a $23 million grant awarded to NYU’s Metropolitan Center for Research on Equity and Transformation.
Helayne Seidman

In response, Tappe stated in an email that NYU had “developed good working relationships with these companies,” and that she had “found no other companies that offer the same suite of services for price,” prosecutors said.

The prestigious private university reported the theft to the Department of Education, which alerted the state comptroller’s office. After conducting its own investigation, the comptroller’s office referred the case to the DA.

In a statement, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg pointed out that, “Instead of going to school districts in need, those funds were used by Tappe to pay her mortgage, build a swimming pool, and live beyond her means.”

Cindy Tappe
Tappe allegedly arranged for three subcontractors to receive some $3.5 million in grant money.
Steven Hirsch

“Our multilingual learners and students with disabilities deserve top-notch services, and these funds should have gone directly to their schools,” Bragg said.

New York State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli said, “Cindy Tappe used her high-ranking position at NYU to divert more than $660,000 in state funds to companies she controlled to fund a lavish lifestyle.”

Tappe pleaded not guilty to the slew of charges, including money laundering, grand larceny, offering a false instrument and falsifying business records in Manhattan Supreme Court on Monday. She was released without bail. Her attorney, Deborah Colson, declined to comment.

After leaving NYU, Tappe apparently got a job at the Yale School of Medicine — with a bio on the school’s website lauding her as having “excellence in the Comprehensive knowledge of financial and grants and has effective leadership and team-building skills.”

NYU and Yale did not return requests for comment.

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