Even the family dog abused the scholars-turned-slaves of accused St. John’s University embezzler Cecelia Chang, a former student testified today.
Chen Yu Yang, 27, echoed testimony from other former students, that Chang, the former head of the Asian Studies department, forced her into servitude to keep her work-study grant.
Chen, a native of China, said was made to cook, clean and run errands for Chang, who is accused of embezzling $1 million from the school and the non-profit she founded.
Not only did she have to do the laundry for her benefactor, but Chen said she had to travel to Foxwoods casino, where Chang spent much of her free time, to deliver clean clothes and pack up the dirty ones.
Her alleged embezzling was so blatant, Chen said, that Chang ordered her to go to Manhattan electronics shop J&R with a camera Chang’s son Stephen had bought. Her instructions were to change the charge from his personal credit card to a St. John’s card, she testified.
And, it wasn’t just Chang that tormented her, Chen said.
The Chang family dog bit her so severely she need to go to the emergency room, she said.
“[Chang] did not apologize to me. She said the dog is very clean and Stephen spent a lot of money on the dog,” said Chen.
Earlier, Marianna Addabbo, a staffer at the university’s Asian Studies department, testified under defense cross examination that Chang’s charity Global Development Initiative Foundation actually did organize some lectures for students.
Addabbo yesterday testified that Chang used the charity to solicit six-figure donations to the charity from billionaires in exchange for honorary doctorate degrees from St. John’s.
She had said Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Al Saud of Saudi Arabia received a St. John’s honorary doctorate after contributing to $250,000 to Chang’s foundation.
FBI Special Agent Kenneth Hosey also testified that Chang allegedly spent tens of thousands of dollars gambling at Foxwoods and tried to hide it by withdrawing money under the amount of $10,000 to avoid government scrutiny.
She also lied to investigators about bank accounts she maintained abroad, Hosey alleged.