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A former staffer at the East-West School of International Studies in Flushing has been charged with stealing more than $400,000 in taxpayer funds meant for students. <\/p>\n
Photo via Google Maps<\/p>\n
A Queens grand jury indicted a Laurelton<\/a> woman for allegedly stealing more than $400,000 from a public high school in Flushing<\/a> when she was a member of the staff.<\/p>\n Abi Corbin, 53, of 232nd Street, was arraigned Oct. 16 in Queens Supreme Court on indictment charges of grand larceny in the second degree and identity theft in the first degree for scamming the taxpayer funding meant for students at the East-West School of International Studies, P.S. 281Q, where she worked as a community associate. Corbin\u2019s role included processing work orders, and the stolen money was meant to purchase materials solely for the school.<\/p>\n Corbin allegedly used the money to order equipment and merchandise for her private company, Queens Campus Cheer.\n<\/p>\n \u201cInstead of purchasing necessary educational materials to help students thrive, the defendant is accused of stealing school funds for her own private cheerleading company,\u201d Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said.<\/p>\n According to the charges and investigation, Corbin was employed as a community associate at the school located at 46-21 Colden St. in Flushing, where her responsibilities included making all purchases for the school and processing orders in the school\u2019s financial management system. From July 2021 through July 2024, Corbin allegedly used the school principal\u2019s login information and signature to authorize purchase orders for cheerleading merchandise and materials, which were then used by her private company, Queens Campus Cheer. The total amount of the stolen funds is estimated at approximately $415,000.<\/p>\n On July 32, 2024, the school principal was informed that several boxes were delivered to P.S. 281Q containing cheerleading merchandise. The school does not have a cheerleading team, and the Queens Campus Cheer is not associated with the school or the Department of Education.<\/p>\n Corbin surrendered to the Queens District Attorney\u2019s office on Oct. 16.\n<\/p>\n \u201cTheft of public funds intended for our students is a serious breach of trust,\u201d Katz said. \u201cMy office will hold accountable anyone who violates that trust and undermines the integrity of our public education system. I thank our partners at the Office of the Special Commissioner of Investigation for the New York City School District and members of my Public Corruption Bureau for their work on this case.\u201d<\/p>\n Queens Supreme Court Justice Toni Cimino ordered Corbin to return to court on Dec. 2. If convicted, Corbin faces a potential maximum of five to 15 years in prison.\n<\/p>\n \u201cAbi Corbin\u2019s actions, as alleged, were a brazen abuse of her official position and a clear violation of the public trust,\u201d NYC School District Special Commissioner of Investigation Anastasia Coleman said. \u201cThe hundreds of thousands of dollars she diverted to her private cheerleading business represent vital taxpayers\u2019 funds intended for the education and well-being of East-West School students.\u201d<\/p>\n She thanked Department of Education staff members who recognized Corbin\u2019s wrongdoing and blew the whistle by reporting the case to her office.\n<\/p>\n \u201cThis type of vigilance by DOE staff is a crucial aid in SCI\u2019s mission to root out fraud, corruption, and abuse within the New York City school district,\u201d Coleman said. \u201cSCI also thanks District Attorney Katz and her staff at the Queens County District Attorney\u2019s office for pursuing prosecution in this important case.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A former staffer at the East-West School of International Studies in Flushing has been charged with stealing more…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7285,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[6436,6437,334,3285,9,24,63,6438,122,6439,5193,124,123,6440,6441],"class_list":["post-7284","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-abi-corbin","tag-east-west-school-of-international-studies","tag-grand-larceny","tag-identity-theft","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-p-s-281q","tag-queens","tag-queens-campus-cheer","tag-queens-district-attorney-melinda-katz","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news","tag-queens-supreme-court","tag-stolen-funds"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7284","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7284"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7284\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7285"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7284"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7284"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7284"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}