UCSF administrator diverted $1.5M in tuition checks, gets 20 months in prison

(KRON) — A former administrator at the University of California, San Francisco was sentenced on Thursday to 20 months in prison for wire fraud, the United States Department of Justice said.

Sandra (Sandi) Eileen Le, 55, will also have to pay $1.5 million in restitution for diverting student tuition payments to herself. Le was the academic program officer for the UCSF School of Nursing’s Post-Master’s and Special Studies Certificate Programs.

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Le told students to make tuition payments out to her, a merchandiser she purchased from, or to leave the payee line blank so she could write in her own name or that of an associate, the DOJ said. She then deposited the checks into her account.

The DOJ said Le used the money on luxury items, gambling, home improvement, and other personal expenses. She diverted nearly 300 checks from November 2013 to March 2019, totaling $1,536,089.64.

“Le disguised and concealed her misconduct by generating false records of payments and student enrollment for her supervisors at the university,” the DOJ said.

Authorities launched an investigation into Le in May 2019. At that time, she took a leave of absence as she faced scrutiny from the university’s audit and advisory services unit.

While Le was on leave, a program student gave her replacement a check written out to Le, saying they did so at Le’s behest. Investigators then interviewed other students and discovered the extent of her fraud.

She will begin serving a prison sentence on or before May 10. In addition to her prison term, she will serve a three-year supervised release.

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