Nigerian Professor at Aquinas College Pleads Guilty to $1.4M Fraud, Used Fake Daycares to Fund Luxury Travel
A highly regarded Nigerian professor and nonprofit founder faces up to 20 years in prison after admitting to swindling more than $1 million from taxpayer-funded programs designed to help low-income children in West Michigan. Nkechy Ezeh, founder and CEO of the Early Learning Neighborhood Collaborative (ELNC), reportedly used fake invoices and sham daycare businesses to fund personal trips to Hawaii, Nigeria, and Liberia, leaving hundreds of vulnerable preschoolers without critical early education services.
Nkechy Ezeh, a celebrated professor at Aquinas College, pleaded guilty last week in U.S. District Court to wire fraud and tax evasion, concluding a scheme that drained over $1 million from federally funded programs. Her nonprofit, the Early Learning Neighborhood Collaborative, which served roughly 8,000 preschoolers in Kent County, Battle Creek, and Kalamazoo, was forced to shut down after 12 years.
Court documents reveal that Ezeh conspired with ELNC bookkeeper Sharon Killebrew to generate nearly $500,000 in fake invoices. They also created fictitious daycare businesses to siphon additional funds for personal luxury travel, including trips to Hawaii, Nigeria, and Liberia.
Killebrew pleaded guilty earlier this year to conspiracy to defraud federally funded programs of $1,170,935 and tax evasion, receiving a sentence of four years and six months in prison.
Ezeh’s attorney, Mary Chartier, told MLive that her client “is committed to taking full responsibility and accountability for her actions” and expressed her “deep remorse to anyone negatively impacted.”
But ELNC President Amy DeLeeuw offered a starkly different perspective. “Her theft of millions of dollars intended for the most vulnerable children was brazen, all-encompassing, and unconscionable,” DeLeeuw said after Ezeh’s plea hearing on January 14. “To date, Nkechy has made no effort to repay any of the millions she stole from ELNC. Her actions have left an indelible mark on the children and families we serve.”
As part of her plea agreement, Ezeh has agreed to repay $1.4 million in restitution to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Early Head Start programs and other affected organizations, including $390,000 in back taxes. She faces sentencing on May 13.
The case has sent shockwaves through Michigan’s education and nonprofit sectors, raising serious concerns about oversight of taxpayer-funded programs aimed at the most vulnerable children.
