A Florida timeshare. A cruise. New York Knicks tickets. Guns and a membership in the NRA.
These are a few of the things that federal prosecutors allege George Moses bought with money earmarked for programs for the poor when he was the executive director of the North East Area Development Association, a nonprofit community development organization in Rochester.
The allegations were outlined in an indictment handed up by a federal grand jury on Thursday that charged Moses with 27 crimes, ranging from wire fraud and federal program fraud to identity theft and filing false tax returns.
The indictment was the third against Moses, and while some of its charges were contained in the second indictment against him in November, many details of his alleged fraud were new.
This time around, prosecutors allege he bought amusement park tickets, immigration services for a friend, a family YMCA membership, and a Netflix subscription with taxpayer money he stole from NEAD and its subsidiary, Freedom Community Enterprises Inc.
Also among Moses’s alleged indulgences was a $20,000 timeshare in Florida that prosecutors contend he paid for with Freedom Community Enterprises money and, later, reimbursed the organization for with a city grant.
Moses, 50, is alleged to have committed the crimes while he wearing two hats -- one as the head of NEAD and another as the chair of the Rochester Housing Authority.
In the November indictment against him, Moses was charged with various schemes to defraud Rochester Housing Charities, a charitable arm of the Rochester Housing Authority, and the after-school program Quad A for Kids.
Quad A for Kids was previously run by Adam McFadden, the former City Council member who resigned in disgrace last year amid pleading guilty to federal fraud charges. He is awaiting sentencing.
Moses is being represented by Frederick Hafetz, a high-profile criminal defense lawyer from New York City who specializes in white-collar crimes. The Democrat and Chronicle quoted Hafetz as saying Moses would contest the charges.
David Andreatta is CITY’s editor. He can be reached at dandreatta@rochester-citynews.com.