Former CEO of Harlem Housing Non-Profit Pleads Guilty to Embezzlement

Derek Broomes, former president and CEO of HCCI, pleaded guilty to embezzlement.

NEW YORK CITY—Derek Broomes, 72, the former president and CEO of Harlem Congregations for Community Improvement, a non-profit housing organization, on Monday pled guilty in federal court to one count of embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars from a federally funded program. The crime carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss resulting from the offense. Broome agreed to pay back $203,408.80 plus further restitution.

Harlem Congregations for Community Improvement is a faith-based, non-profit organization that develops and provides low-income housing in Harlem. In 2002, Broomes became the CFO and in 2011, he became the president and CEO. Prior to working at HCCI, Broomes worked as a deputy commissioner in New York City’s Human Resources Administration and for three years at the city’s Department of Investigations as the deputy inspector general and an investigator.