Three former Seton Hall Law School employees admitted to their roles in a years-long scheme to defraud the private Catholic university of more than $1.3 million, according to authorities.

During a July 26 appearance before U.S. District Judge Julien Xavier Neals in Newark, Teresina DeAlmeida, 59, of Warren, and Rose Martins, 44, of East Hanover pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy. Silvia Cardoso, 61, of Warren, entered a guilty plea to the same charge a day before, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip Sellinger said.

While federal officials did not name the Essex County higher education institution where the defendants worked, Seton Hall University officials have confirmed the incident took place at its law school.

In a statement to NJ Advance Media, a Seton Hall spokesperson said the matter related to “financial irregularities first uncovered” during a regular internal review. From there, the school conducted “a more intensive review utilizing a third-party auditor and notified the appropriate higher education and government entities,” they said.

The process also led Seton Hall to implement “additional financial safeguards and controls to reduce the likelihood of similar incidents,” the spokesperson said.

“We are grateful to the government agencies involved in the investigation for their diligence. We also appreciate the patience and cooperation of everyone at Seton Hall who has worked to implement these enhanced fiscal policies, never wavering in our shared focus of advancing Seton Hall’s exceptional educational mission,” they added.

‘The money wasn’t theirs’

According to authorities, DeAlmeida was a former assistant dean, responsible for financial functions; Martins served as her assistant. The university also employed Cardoso, DeAlmeida’s sister, in a support staff role.

Between 2009 and 2022, the trio implemented a variety of methods to defraud Seton Hall. According to authorities those included:

• Requesting that vendors pay them directly;
• Using a school-issued credit card to purchase hundreds of thousands of dollars of gift cards and other products;
• Forming a shell company to bill the university for services never rendered.

In a statement, Sellinger said, “Through an elaborate, years-long embezzlement scheme, these defendants violated their obligation to the students and exploited their role at this institution of higher learning to line their own pockets. Through forgery, fraudulent invoices, unauthorized transactions and phony shell companies, they stole money intended to benefit the school and its student body and abused their positions.”

“The genesis of most fraud schemes happens when people have access to money, they believe they are entitled to, and no one will notice it’s gone,” FBI Special Agent in Charge James Dennehy said. “However, these three subjects fell into the same trap other criminals do – the money wasn’t theirs, and the Essex County graduate school went in search of the missing $1.3 million. FBI Newark and our law enforcement partners who worked on this investigation excel at following the paper trail and evidence left behind by almost every fraudster.”

Sentencing

The wire fraud conspiracy charge carries a maximum prison sentence of up to 20 years.

Sentencing for Cardoso is scheduled for Nov. 26, for DeAlmeida Dec. 2 and for Martins Dec. 3.

An attorney representing Martins declined to comment. The lawyer handling DeAlmeida’s case could not immediately be reached.

Henry Klingeman, an attorney representing Cardoso, said his client “deeply regrets her involvement in this misconduct” and will pay back any restitution she owes.

“Silvia faithfully devoted decades of her career to the law school; thus, she hopes that the judge will weigh that against her acceptance of gift cards and other valuables to which she was not entitled,” he said in a statement to NJBIZ.