Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity’s former fiscal director pleads responsible to stealing approximately $3 million

Curtis D. Anderson, who more than 30 many years labored his way up from bookkeeper to director of funds at Kappa Alpha Psi, just one of the nation’s largest and most influential Black college or university fraternities, pleaded responsible Tuesday to stealing just about $3 million from the group.

Anderson, 59 of Claymont, Del., stated very little all through the listening to prior to U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Savage, but he formerly advised investigators he stole the income to fund a gambling pattern at a time when he was battling with liquor addiction.

Tries to arrive at Kappa Alpha Psi officials, whose international headquarters creating is on North Broad Road in Philadelphia, have been not effective Tuesday. Founded in 1911, the fraternity has much more than 125,000 customers with 700 undergraduate and alumni chapters in almost every single condition in the nation and international chapters in Nigeria, South Africa, the West Indies, the United Kingdom, Germany, South Korea, and Japan.

Prosecutors stated Anderson began stealing from the fraternity in June 2012 employing checks he possibly made out to himself or other folks whose signatures he cast and exchanging them for cash. Santander Financial institution flagged the strange transactions and alerted the fraternity in 2018.

In all, Anderson cashed 78 fraudulent checks at Santander Bank and 40 at Wells Fargo Financial institution, Assistant U.S. Attorney Mary Crawley informed the decide.

Anderson was fired in December 2018 immediately after fraternity officials identified the missing money and confronted him. Anderson then confessed, telling his bosses he was having difficulties with gambling and consuming addictions and had expended most of the cash at Harrah’s On line casino.

He was formally charged in Oct 2020.

All through Tuesday’s hearing, Anderson pleaded guilty to four counts of wire fraud and just one rely of aggravated identification theft.

Savage established sentencing for Feb. 22 and authorized Anderson to keep on being no cost right up until then. Even though he would be offered credit rating for having duty for his steps and supporting the Justice Office with its investigation of him, the judge warned Anderson that there was no assurance on the sentence he would impose. The choose famous that the greatest sentence could be as significant as 82 yrs in prison and a fantastic of more than $1 million.

Federal sentencing rules connect with for a term of in between 5 to 6 decades in jail, Crawley explained after the hearing.

“He stole approximately $3 million from his previous employer that had put him in a situation of have confidence in as the director of finance,” she explained. “It was a very long-standing fraud scheme to embezzle from his employer around a interval of quite a few several years. He reaped the benefit of that.”

Anderson’s law firm, Brian J. Zeiger, claimed Anderson is in procedure for his gambling and drinking addictions. “He’s a really nice dude,” he explained. “It’s truly a disgrace.”