Non profit fraud Executive Director helped by twin brothers!

The former executive director of an East Orange-based non-profit developer of low-income housing was arrested today on charges she had embezzled more than $380,000 from the corporation, the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement this evening.

Lancie Marchan, 64, who headed the East Orange Revitalization and Development Corporation, used the money for trips, hotel stays, visits to casinos and gifts, among other things, the statement said.

An indictment unsealed today alleges that Marchan, who was being paid an annual salary of $93,163.50, embezzled the money between 2005 and 2010.

At the time, EORDC was partnering with a private corporation to build a low-income development, called the Princeton Estates Phase II Project, with partial funding from HUD.

The indictment also alleges that Marchan’s twin 66-year-old brothers, Arthur Werts, of Chesterfield, Va., and Artemus Werts, of Plainfield – both of whom have experience in the financial and non-profit industries – helped their sister embezzle and launder the funds.

Marchan was arrested at her home in North Brunswick by officers from the prosecutor’s office and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

All three are charged with conspiracy, theft by unlawful taking and financial facilitation of criminal activity. They could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted of the charges, the prosecutor’s office said.

Marchan is being held on $50,000 bail at the county jail. Her brothers have not yet been arrested.