Feds after disgraced dean's cash

Feds after disgraced dean's cash

James Monroe Adams IV for New York Daily News

Former St. John’s University dean Cecilia Chang hanged herself in November amid accusations she bribed students with scholarships and then forced them to work as her personal servants at her Jamaica Estates home. 

The Feds have fired their first salvo to grab ill-gotten assets from the late St. John’s University dean Cecilia Chang, who committed suicide while on trial.

Internal Revenue Service Special Agent Sheldon Tang filed an affidavit Thursday in Brooklyn Federal Court seeking a warrant to seize up to $ 300,000 from an account with Firstrade Securities that Chang opened in the name of a former student.

Chang, the former dean of the Center for Asian Studies at St. John’s, allegedly embezzled more than $ 1 million from the school and deposited the money in various accounts she controlled, according to court papers.

She hanged herself after testifying disastrously in her own defense against federal charges that she bribed students with scholarships and then forced them to work for her as personal servants at her Jamaica Estates home.

The Firstrade Securities account was opened in the name of a student who was recruited by Chang to receive a St. John’s scholarship, according to the affidavit. The student told investigators that “she believed opening the account was a requirement of the school,” Tang stated in the affidavit.

Federal prosecutors are preparing a formal forfeiture action against whatever assets of Chang’s can be tied to her various schemes.

St. John’s University could file a claim with the U.S. Justice Department to recover the funds she stole, sources said.

The Queens District Attorney’s office dropped its lien against Chang’s home, where she killed herself.

The former dean’s lawyer said he was unaware of the feds’ plans.