Ex-ME Director Gets 15 Years; Stole $13M From FEMA

A former Medical Examiner's Office employee was sentenced July 11 to 15 years in prison on Federal charges of embezzlement and conspiracy for his role in stealing millions of dollars in Federal Emergency Management Agency funds.

Natarajan Venkataram, as the one-time Office of the Chief Medical Examiner's Director of Management Information Systems, was found guilty of stealing $13 million in agency funds, much of which originated from FEMA grants, to three firms headed by a third conspirator between 1999 and 2004.

Paid $2.9M in Restitution

Rosa Abreu was the Medical Examiner's Director of Records, and also pleaded guilty to embezzlement charges last October. The U.S. District Court in Manhattan fined Mr. Venkataram $50,000 and ordered him to pay $2.9 million in restitution. He had pleaded guilty to one count of Conspiracy, one count of Embezzlement and 14 counts of Money Laundering.

The duo had steered agency funds to shell companies that they had made to appear to be doing contract work for FEMA. Much of the money they had access to was meant to help the office identify victims of the World Trade Center attacks. They resigned from their positions in September 2005 and were arrested three months later.

"Shameless greed fueled this crime," said Department of Investigation Commissioner Rose Gill Hearn in a statement. "The defendant took advantage of a national tragedy by stealing funds intended to help identify victims of the September 11th attacks. That this individual exploited and betrayed his authority at the Medical Examiner's Office makes this illegal behavior all the more appalling. DOI investigators worked tirelessly to decipher the complex scheme, including tracing millions of dollars to as far as India."