NYC Nonprofit Leader Accused of Taking $2.5M in Bribes to Direct COVID Funds

[Social Media]

 

The head of a New York City nonprofit organization that assisted former inmates has been accused of accepting $2.5 million in bribes, including luxury car payments, stacks of cash, and two homes, in exchange for directing $51 million in city COVID funds to two businesspeople, federal prosecutors claim.  

 

Julio Medina, 64, founder and CEO of Exodus Transitional Community, was indicted on Thursday by the Brooklyn US Attorney’s Office. His organization, which played a role in placing inmates in hotels during the pandemic to curb the spread of COVID-19 in jails, reportedly received $122 million in public funds from the mayor’s office between June 2020 and December 2023. Prosecutors allege that Medina funneled $51 million of this money to businesses operated by Christopher Dantzler, 49, and Weihong Hu, 59, in return for substantial kickbacks.  

 

Dantzler and Hu allegedly purchased a $1.3 million townhouse in Washington Heights for Medina, as well as a house in Clifton Park, NY, covering $750,000 in renovations. Additionally, Hu, through her company, is accused of providing over $50,000 in car payments for Medina on a luxury vehicle valued at $107,000, while Dantzler allegedly paid off $75,000 in personal debts for Medina and his family members.  

 

Prosecutors claim that Dantzler’s company was paid by Exodus for security services at the hotels, despite not being a licensed security firm and never actually providing any services. Hu, meanwhile, operated two hotels in Queens and was also part of a catering business that supplied food services at the hotels. Both Hu and Dantzler allegedly provided Medina with cash bribes.  

 

Included in the indictment were photos showing Medina accepting a stack of cash from Hu, which prosecutors claim was around the same time her catering company received two checks totaling more than $187,000 from Exodus.  

 

“Shamefully, the defendants saw the pandemic as an opportunity to line their pockets with stacks of cash, finance a luxury vehicle, purchase homes and pay off personal debts,” Brooklyn US Attorney John J. Durham stated.  

 

The three defendants have been charged with wire fraud conspiracy, honest services wire fraud, and conspiracy to violate the travel act. If convicted, they each face up to 45 years in prison.  

 

During their arraignment in Brooklyn federal court on Thursday, Judge James Cho set bail at $250,000 for Medina, $20 million for Hu, and $750,000 for Dantzler. Hu’s attorney, Benjamin Brafman, defended his client, stating, “In my judgment, Ms. Hu is in many ways a ‘victim’ in this case and not a co-conspirator.”

 

Based on a report by NYP  2025-02-17

 

 

[Luuk Chaai]

nonprofit organization 

first clue ..tip off

reminds me of 

[Tarteso]

Another one called Medina accused in Spain of scamming $12M  12!!! in  COVID time. Shame of men.

 

 

 

[roquefort]

Tip of the iceberg. During Covid governments fell over themselves to dole out money to all and sundry with no oversight or accountability. PPI scandal in the UK was a typical example.

 

Hopefully Musk's DOGE team will root out much of this corruption and the example will be copied by European countries, 

[mrwebb8825]

On 2/17/2025 at 4:24 AM, roquefort said:

Tip of the iceberg. During Covid governments fell over themselves to dole out money to all and sundry with no oversight or accountability. PPI scandal in the UK was a typical example.

 

Hopefully Musk's DOGE team will root out much of this corruption and the example will be copied by European countries, 

In the news today he's found $4.7T in unencoded (therefore, untraceable) payments disbursed from the Treasury and SS Benefits being paid to more people than there are living American citizens.

Even the judges have stopped interfering in DOGE business. 🤠

[candide]

17 hours ago, mrwebb8825 said:

In the news today he's found $4.7T in unencoded (therefore, untraceable) payments disbursed from the Treasury and SS Benefits being paid to more people than there are living American citizens.

Even the judges have stopped interfering in DOGE business. 🤠

He makes nice tweets! 🤣

[candide]

On 2/17/2025 at 6:45 AM, Luuk Chaai said:

nonprofit organization 

first clue ..tip off

reminds me of 

In the MAGA alternate universe. However, in the real universe, real facts point to someone else... 🤣

 

Trump Ordered to Pay $2 Million Over Scam Foundation

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2019/11/donald-trump-charity-scam?srsltid=AfmBOorV0-03XBaPF4MZUsya2pjYyagnd9Oo0UsEkCSW7ApAkkl22Xq2