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发帖数: 25262 | 1 A former dean of St. John’s University who had been accused of stealing
more than $1 million from the school was found dead in her home on Tuesday
morning from an apparent suicide, a person with knowledge of the matter said.
The dean, Cecilia Chang, was found inside her home in Jamaica, Queens, said
the person, who was not authorized to speak publicly about the episode. It
was unclear how Ms. Chang died or who found her.
Dr. Chang’s death comes in the midst of her trial, in which in addition to
being accused of stealing money from St. John’s, she was also accused of
using students as her personal servants.
On Monday, Dr. Chang had taken the stand in her own defense in an effort to
rebut the prosecution’s presentation that depicted her as a thief who was
fueled by greed.
Dr. Chang acknowledged that she had used school money to pay for her son’s
graduate school and had made students hand-wash her underwear.
Dr. Chang, who led the Institute of Asian Studies at St. John’s and served
as its vice president for international relations, was accused of using her
position to recruit scholarship students from overseas, promising them a
free education, but then forcing them to clean her house and shuttle cases
of liquor to her room at the Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut.
She had faced up to 20 years in prison on the most serious charge against
her, forced labor.
Prosecutors presented considerable evidence against Dr. Chang. Documents and
e-mails from the university showed hundreds of thousands of dollars in
personal items, including repairs for her Mercedes-Benz car, that had been
charged to a university credit card. And a series of former students
testified about the menial labor they performed for her and the threats of
lost scholarships they faced if they balked.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/07/nyregion/cecilia-chang-ex-dea |
