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.