Marcia Joseph, of Baldwin, gets 2-year sentence for stealing $2.3M from Brooklyn charity where she worked, feds say

A Long Island woman was sentenced Thursday to almost 2 years in prison for stealing more than $2.3 million from the nonprofit where she worked and spending the embezzled funds on home renovations and spa treatments in a scam that spanned 17 years, authorities said. 

Marcia Joseph, 59, of Baldwin, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Eric N. Vitaliano in federal court in Brooklyn to 21 months in prison for embezzling funds from the Brooklyn-based nonprofit, which provides employment and education services to the needy. The nonprofit was not named.

The judge also ordered Joseph, a senior fiscal officer at the nonprofit, to pay $2.3 million in restitution and forfeiture in the amount of $2.3 million.

Joseph's attorney could not be reached for comment. 

"By stealing from a charity she was entrusted to serve, the defendant shamefully diverted resources from those in need to line her own pockets," U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. said in a statement. "Today’s sentence makes clear that those who exploit nonprofits for personal gain will face the loss of their freedom and serious financial penalties. Our Office is committed to protecting nonprofit organizations and the communities that rely on them from fraudsters."

As part of her guilty plea to wire fraud in January 2024, Joseph admitted stealing $2.3 million from her employer and funneling the money to what prosecutors called a "sham company" called Prestige Business Services, that she had set up using invoices claiming services were provided through a New York City Department of Education program that assists both students and adults in shelters, prosecutors said. 

"Over the course of nearly 17 years, Joseph generated and submitted more than 500 fictitious invoices and manipulated the Non-Profit’s accounting systems to avoid detection," prosecutors said in a news release.

Prosecutors said Joseph funded her lifestyle with the stolen funds. She spent about $235,000 on mortgage payments, $207,000 on credit card payments, $98,000 on car payments, $45,000 in Amazon expenses. The embezzled funds also were spent on home remodeling and landscaping, spa treatments and luxury goods, prosecutors said. 

She was arrested in October 2023 and faced up to 20 years in prison. 

"Marcia Joseph abused her position and access within a nonprofit charity to steal more than two million dollars intended to fund critical employment and education services for the city,"  FBI Assistant Director in Charge Christopher G. Raia said in the release. "For nearly two decades, Joseph selfishly prioritized her extravagant lifestyle at the expense of those who truly needed the financial aid."

By Nicole Fuller

nicole.fuller@newsday.com@NicoleFuller

Nicole Fuller is Newsday's senior criminal justice reporter. She began working at Newsday in 2012 and previously covered local government.