Yezenia Castillo, 47, will have to serve at least 85% of her sentence — a few months over four years — because there’s no parole in the federal prison system.
From 2012 through 2021, Castillo “falsely claimed to be a CPA who could provide various financial and accounting services to non-profit organizations throughout New Jersey, including private schools and religious institutions,” U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said on Thursday, March 21.
“Castillo was not a CPA and never provided any of these promised services,” he added.
Among the victims was a Jersey City nonprofit elementary and intermediate school that hired Castillo — also known as “Yezenia Maldanado” — to handle tax accounting and preparation.
The unidentified school gave Castillo $195,000 to pay its federal business taxes for the years 2016 through 2018, but she pocketed it instead, federal authorities said.
Castillo also charged the school $8,100 for services she never rendered and stole an additional $8,000 from its bank account, a complaint on file in U.S. District Court in Newark says.