What do you get when a non-profit businessman, a hotel owner, and a security guard cross paths? A party. Or a multi-million dollar fraud scheme that channeled public money intended for emergency housing and support services during the pandemic. On February 14, 2025, Julio Medina, a non-profit CEO, Weihong Hu, a hotelier, and Christopher Dantzler, a security guard, were indicted in a scheme that allegedly stole millions of dollars from a temporary housing program that was designed to help slow the spread of COVID-19 in New York’s jails. A party of three, stealing from the U.S. taxpayer.
Back in June 2020, Medina was awarded the New York inmate hotel program via a no-bid contract for the emergency housing program started by the mayor’s office. According to accusations in the indictment, Medina’s non-profit, Exodus Transitional Community, received about $122 million to operate the housing program for inmates that were incarcerated in prisons where quarters were tight. It’s hard to socially distance in prison. Dantzler and Hu were awarded contracts from Exodus to house the inmates when they were released from Rikers and upstate prisons and provide security.
But in the three years the contracts were awarded, it appears that there were less if any services provided by Medina, Dantzler, and Hu, and more kickbacks between the three of them. Medina allegedly funneled $51 million of the money to Dantzler’s and Hu’s businesses in exchange for kickbacks to him. Including but not limited to a $1.3 million townhouse, a luxury $107,000 vehicle, and another home renovation worth approximately $750,000, and cash.
Shout out to the COVID-19 Fraud Strike Force team in this case.
Today’s Fraud of The Day is based on article “NYC nonprofit boss took $2.5M in bribes to steer city COVID funds to businesses: feds” published by the New York Post on February 14, 2025.
The founder of a New York City nonprofit helping ex-cons pocketed $2.5 million worth of bribes — including two homes, luxury car loan payments and stacks of cash — in exchange for steering $51 million in COVID funding to two shady businesspeople, federal prosecutors allege.
Julio Medina, 64, founder and CEO of Exodus Transitional Community, which during the pandemic helped the Big Apple place inmates in hotels to help reduce jail populations and slow the spread of COVID-19 in city lockups, was indicted Thursday by the Brooklyn US Attorney’s Office.
