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Violent Queens acid attack was part of $750,000 embezzlement: DA – Metro US

Violent Queens acid attack was part of $750,000 embezzlement: DA

Violent Queens acid attack was part of $750,000 embezzlement: DA
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Three people have been charged in an alleged embezzlement scheme that resulted in a vicious acid attack on a nonprofit organization’s executive director.

District Attorney Richard Brown and Police Commissioner William Bratton on Tuesday announced that three people have been arrested and variously charged for embezzling more than $750,000 from Hospital Audiences Inc., a Queens nonprofit, in a scheme that also involved throwing a caustic liquid onto a woman’s face in an effort to conceal the alleged theft.

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Brown said that Kim Williams, 47, worked as an accountant at Hospital Audiences when she used her position to steal money, some of which she gave to her friend Pia Louallen, 41, between 2012 and 2015, the district attorney’s office stated.

To allegedly conceal her theft, Williams arranged for Jerry Mohammed, 32, to assault the organization’s executive director, Reverend D. Alexandra Dyer, the DA reported. Mohammed is charged in connection to that assault, in which the DA stated that he threw a caustic substance at Dyer as she was walking to her car.

Investigators did not elaborate on exactly how the acid attack was meant to conceal the theft.

Reverend Dyer underwent multiple surgeries to recover from the attack, DA Brown added.

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“This case is troubling on so many different levels.In an atmosphere of such giving, it is disheartening to see an individual allegedly use her position of fiduciary trust to siphon off tens of thousands of dollars in funds for the personal use of herself and another,” the district attorney stated. “More disturbing, perhaps, is the same individual allegedly conspiring with another individual to intentionally seriously injure an innocent victim as part of a cover-up.”

Williams has been charged with various levels of assault, conspiracy, theft and falsification, and Louallen has been with grand larceny and conspiracy, the district attorney added.

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Mohammed, who faces up to life in prison, has been charged with assault, conspiracy and criminal possession of a weapon, according to the DA.

“As alleged, the investigation revealed the defendants embezzled and then severely injured the victim in an elaborate cover-up scheme. Today, three find themselves under arrest for this brazen crime,” Commissioner Bratton stated.