McKenzie was, initially, a contractor at the center. His role was to funnel payroll and other financial information to ADP, the giant data processing firm that issued checks for the center. Before long, McKenzie had figured out how to have checks issued to himself and others - dozens of checks over a period of close to seven years.
In addition to knowing how to steal money, he was also good at spending it. Suffolk County prosecutors say the stolen money paid for a fleet of luxury cars, including two Lamborghinis, at a cost of over $100,000 apiece. There was also a Cadillac Escalade and at least one Mercedes that appear to have been purchased with the center’s money. McKenzie was also the proud owner of a $790,000 condo on the Cambridge side of the Charles.
At the same time, the center was falling apart. Literally falling apart. When Achebe and his staff took over in 2008, the front door of the place was falling off its hinges. Paint was peeling off the walls. The stolen money would have helped with a lot of problems.
“At a time when the Harvard Street Neighborhood Health Center was struggling to pay its electrical bills, the defendant was driving a luxury car home to a penthouse apartment,’’ Suffolk District Attorney Daniel Conley said yesterday. “This scheme didn’t just victimize a nonprofit agency. It victimized the poor, the sick, and the elderly who depend upon it for services. You have to wonder whether he could look out his window at night and see the very health center that paid for his luxury lifestyle, struggling to keep its lights on.’’
Once new management took over, it didn’t take long to uncover the scheme; a close audit quickly uncovered the missing money. Frankly, it probably should have been discovered much sooner.
If Friday’s court hearing is any indication, McKenzie may have blown through most of the money. While he was expected to appear in court with $100,000 as partial restitution, he returned only $30,000. He was sentenced to two to three years in prison with five years’ probation. He was also ordered to pay $762,929 back to the health center.
