Former Employee Sentenced To 46 Months In Prison For Embezzling More Than $5.1 Million From Non-ProfitMoney Stolen Over Eight-Year Period; Non-Profit Alerted Authorities Upon Discovery Of The Scheme

            WASHINGTON - Ephonia M. Green, 44, of Upper Marlboro, Md., was sentenced today to 46 months in prison for embezzling more than $5 million from her former employer, a non-profit corporation, announced U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr. and Valerie Parlave, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office.

            Green pled guilty in November 2013 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to one count of theft concerning programs receiving federal funds and one count of engaging in illegal monetary transactions. She was sentenced by the Honorable Beryl A. Howell.
Upon completion of her prison term, Green will be placed on three years of supervised release.

            As part of the plea agreement, Green agreed to criminal forfeiture in the amount of roughly $5.1 million and restitution in the amount of roughly $5.1 million. 

            According to the government’s evidence, from Jan. 5, 1998, through July 15, 2013, Green was employed by the Association of American Medical Colleges as an administrative assistant.  The association, located in Washington, D.C., represents all of the accredited medical schools in the United States and Canada and is responsible for administering the Medical College Admission Test or MCAT.  

            Green’s duties included processing invoices from the association’s vendors.  Separately, Green owned a bridal shop in Upper Marlboro, Md. that conducted business under the name Fabulous Concepts Inc. or FCI. 

            From July 15, 2005, through July 1, 2013, Green created and submitted false invoices to the Association of American Medical Colleges in the name of three entities – The Brookings Institute, FCI, and the University Health System Consortium, also known as UHC. In doing so, she was seeking payment for services that were never provided and without the association’s knowledge that Green would be the actual recipient of the payments. 

            Through this fraudulent scheme, Green embezzled approximately $5.1 million from her employer. Although the association received federal program funds each calendar year, none of the money that was embezzled came from federal program funds.

            The Brookings Institution is a private, non-profit policy organization based in Washington, D.C., and UHC is an alliance of academic medical centers and hospitals.  Green is not affiliated with either entity. Green’s bridal shop, FCI, was never entitled to receive any money from the association. For the false invoices in the name of The Brookings Institute and UHC, Green registered similar trade names with the Maryland Department of Assessments and Taxation and then opened bank accounts in those names. 

            In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Machen and Assistant Director in Charge Parlave thanked the Association of American Medical Colleges for promptly reporting its discovery of the embezzlement to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in July 2013, and for its full cooperation with the investigation that followed. U.S. Attorney Machen and Assistant Director in Charge Parlave also commended the investigative work of agents and analysts of the FBI’s Washington Field Office. Finally, they praised the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Paralegal Specialist Corinne Kleinman, Deputy U.S. Marshal Wayne Rollock, former Assistant U.S. Attorney David Johnson, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Zia Faruqui, who worked on forfeiture and sentencing issues.