Chinedu Ekuma reached an important milestone in his academic career when he achieved tenure as a physics professor at Lehigh University last year.
But he was forced to resign five months later when he was charged with participating in a $1.8 million wire fraud scheme.
Now his attorney is fighting to keep him out of prison.
The 45-year-old Catasauqua man is scheduled to be sentenced Thursday in federal court. He admitted to participating in an email and phone scam that bilked victims out of $1.8 million between August 2020 and March 2023. The scammers unsuccessfully attempted to steal an additional $650,000, according to court papers.
Philadelphia attorney Margaret Grasso declined to discuss the case. Her sentencing memorandum says Ekuma didn’t swindle the victims directly, but set up bank accounts and transferred money on behalf of conspirators who remain at large.
Ekuma netted only…
This category refers to crimes committed by employees or insiders against their own organizations. It is often the most damaging because the perpetrator has authorized access to systems.
- Asset Misappropriation: The most common form, involving the theft of company resources. This ranges from simple “skimming” (taking cash before it’s recorded) to complex schemes involving the theft of inventory or intellectual property.
- Payroll Fraud: Employees may create “ghost employees” on the system, falsify their own timesheets to claim unworked overtime, or divert salary payments to their own accounts.
- Financial Statement Fraud: Management deliberately misrepresents the company’s financial health by inflating revenue or hiding liabilities to attract investors or meet performance bonuses.