Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Michael Alfonso, the Acting Special Agent-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of the Department of Homeland Security (“HSI”), announced that PHILIP DALLMANN, the former executive director of a children’s not-for-profit organization based in New York City, was charged in a complaint with embezzling funds from the organization from 2018 to 2021. DALLMANN was arrested today in Seattle, Washington, and will be presented this afternoon in Seattle federal court.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “As alleged, Philip Dallmann spent years exploiting his position of trust to line his own pockets with donor funds intended to enrich the lives of children. He also stole for years from his wife’s family, and when he was caught, he claimed he did so in part to help cover the organization’s costs. Dallmann now faces federal charges for this double deception.”
Acting Special Agent-in-Charge Michael Alfonso said: “Dallmann’s insatiable greed led him to allegedly embezzle nearly $100,000 from a not-for-profit organization aimed at helping children participate in the arts. Dallmann betrayed the trust of his employers and took these funds from the hands of children and teachers who deserve them, funding his own lifestyle with the stolen funds. HSI is a leader in federal financial crime investigations, and we will continue to bring our investigative capabilities to expose financial frauds targeting our most vulnerable.”
As alleged in the Complaint unsealed today in Manhattan federal court:[1]
From at least 2018 through 2021, PHILIP DALLMANN served as the executive director of a children’s not-for-profit organization based in Manhattan. The organization is dedicated to providing inclusive arts programming for students of all development profiles, including autistic children.
In 2018, DALLMANN began embezzling funds from the organization’s bank account for unauthorized personal expenses. In or around 2019, the organization began receiving overdraft notices from the bank, which DALLMANN claimed was caused by the bank’s loss of donor checks. The following year, the organization switched banks, and DALLMANN continued his embezzlement. A subsequent audit revealed that DALLMANN stole a total of approximately $98,000.
While serving as the executive director, DALLMANN married a teacher at the not-for-profit organization. In or around the spring of 2020, DALLMANN’s wife learned that DALLMANN had stolen credit cards that belonged to her father and on which she was an authorized user and that DALLMANN had used the credit cards to make unauthorized transactions, later found to total more than $143,000.
DALLMANN claimed that he had used his wife’s credit cards to cover operational expenses for the not-for-profit organization. DALLMANN then impersonated the organization’s treasurer by email to negotiate repayments by the organization to his wife. Based on DALLMANN’s representations, the organization then, in fact, entered into a contract to pay DALLMANN’s wife $30,000.
In sum, DALLMANN made hundreds of unauthorized personal transactions using the not-for-profit organization’s bank accounts, such as payments for pet grooming, food delivery, restaurants, groceries, alcohol, clothing, shoes, transportation, ESPN Plus and Netflix subscriptions, Amazon orders, and wedding photography services. He also withdrew thousands of dollars in cash from the not-for-profit organization’s accounts.
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DALLMANN, 34, of Seattle, Washington, is charged with one count of wire fraud, which carries a maximum potential sentence of 20 years in prison, and one count of access device fraud, which carries a maximum potential sentence of 15 years in prison. He is also charged with one count of aggravated identity theft, which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of two years in prison, consecutive to any other sentence imposed.
The statutory minimum and maximum penalties are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the judge.
Mr. Williams praised the investigative work of HSI and thanked local law enforcement partners in Seattle and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington for their assistance.
This case is being handled by the Office’s General Crimes Unit. Assistant United States Attorney Jane Y. Chong is in charge of the prosecution.
The charges contained in the Complaint are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
[1] As the introductory phrase signifies, the entirety of the text of the Complaint constitutes only allegations, and every fact described herein should be treated as an allegation.