[PR] Former Howard University Associate Director Pleads Guilty to Defrauding the School Out of More Than $100,000

Department of Justice
U.S. Attorney’s Office
District of Columbia

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, July 24, 2020

WASHINGTON – Doemini Mosley, 35, of Washington, D.C., pled guilty today to defrauding Howard University out of more than $100,000, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Michael R. Sherwin and James A. Dawson, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) Washington Field Office Criminal Division.

            Mosley pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Her co-conspirator, Brian Johnson, 35, of Washington, D.C., pled guilty last week to the same offense.  The charge carries a statutory maximum sentence of five years in prison. Under federal sentencing guidelines, Mosley faces a potential recommended sentence of between 10 and 24 months in prison. The plea agreement calls for Mosley to pay $139,697.75 in restitution and $85,850 in a forfeiture money judgment.

            Mosley worked at Howard from 2011 through June 2017, initially in the financial aid office and then ultimately as the Associate Director of the Bursar’s Office. Johnson, a Howard graduate, served as Associate Director of Financial Aid from 2014 through August 2016.  In the fall of 2016, Mosley proposed a scheme to Johnson in which Mosley would cause fraudulently-obtained money to be sent from Howard University to Johnson, with Johnson then kicking back half of the proceeds to Mosley. As part of the scheme, Mosley applied fraudulent financial aid awards onto Johnson’s student profile even though he was no longer a student or employed at the school. As a result, Mosley caused Howard University to issue $107,697.75 to Johnson’s bank account between November 2016 and May 2017. Johnson admitted sharing half of the fraud proceeds with Mosley in the form of cash or electronic payments.

            Mosley also separately defrauded the university out of an additional $32,000 in May 2017.

            The Honorable Beryl A. Howell accepted Johnson’s guilty plea last Friday and Mosley’s guilty plea today. Johnson is scheduled to be sentenced on September 25, 2020. Mosley is scheduled to be sentenced on October 2, 2020.

            This case is part of an ongoing investigation being conducted by the FBI’s Washington Field Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kondi Kleinman of the Fraud and Public Corruption Section is prosecuting the case.