NC Central University employee pleads guilty to embezzlement, faces 3-5 years in prison

Kenya Ward will serve between three and five years in prison, court documents show.

Court records show Ward admitted to stealing nearly $1 million of state money between January 2018 and April 2021.

The scheme was centered on the university’s bookstore and food services department, court documents show.

Court records list Ward as a business technology application analyst and Eagle Card Office manager.

Ward is the only person charged by law enforcement, but the consequences of the embezzlement enterprise extended further.

NC Central said five employees were terminated in 2021. The university released a statement on Tuesday.

"The reputational damage sustained, the additional analysis to ensure student accounts were unaffected, and the domino effect of terminating an entire employment unit was numbing," the statement reads

NC Central says after the scheme was revealed, the university completed two forensic audits to ensure no other incidents of embezzlement were noted.

The university says it will not allow the misdeeds of others to affect their progress, writing:

"The actions of Ms. Ward and the tangled web she created will not stop North Carolina Central.”

In addition to serving three to five years, as part of her plea agreement for the charge of conspiracy to embezzle, Ward is ordered to pay more than $900,000 in restitution.

WRAL News asked NC Central if any students were involved and if the university took disciplinary action. The university said it didn’t have answers to those questions.