Nathan Kaufman: While He Was Golfing, He Was Allegedly Ripping off RI Kids for Millions
GoLocalProv News Team
Nathan Kaufman: While He Was Golfing, He Was Allegedly Ripping off RI Kids for Millions
He was arrested in September by the State Police. Despite allegations of stealing millions, he is free on $15,000 surety bail -- he only had to pay 10% or $1,500 and surrender his passport.
Now, GoLocal is able to outline Kaufman's alleged brazen theft.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTIn June, Kaufman was playing in the Rhode Island Amateur Championship, he was sitting on millions of dollars.
He was a newly minted millionaire. The money was not his.
And, he was winning on the course.
On June 15, the Rhode Island Golf Association announced that Kaufman was one of the top performers. “Dave Marshall, Jack McMullen, Matt Osman and Nathan Kaufman share medalist honors in the final #RIAmateur Pre-Qualifier at Foster,” Tweeted RIGA.
Winning.
Kaufman had served as the Finance Director at UCAP for over a decade — a small school for urban children with education challenges.
The school was founded decades earlier by education visionary Rob DeBlois — a man committed to helping inner-city youth. DeBlois had led the school from a wheelchair for three decades, as he was a quadriplegic from a diving accident in college. The middle school focuses on children who have been held back at least one year. UCAP has had a track record of tremendous success.
DeBlois died in 2020.
The void in Rhode Island’s education world was immense.
Millions and Winning on the Links
Kaufman was a Classical High School graduate. GoLocal spoke to two of his classmates. They requested not to be identified but said that the September arrest has been the talk of the alumni on social media. They said Kaufman was known as a "good kid and a great golfer." He went on to Clemson University.
According to the investigation by the Rhode Island State Police, in May, Kaufman had executed a transfer of $1 million from UCAP to a personal account.
It was the fourth transfer he had made in recent months.
To date, he has made four withdrawals:
January 25, 2022 - $750,000.00
February 14, 2022 - $250,000.00
March 22, 2022 - $1,000,000.00
May 10, 2022 - $1,000,000.00
“All four wire transfers were sent to TD Ameritrade account # 0, listing Nathan Kaufman, Joy Street, Providence, RI 02908 as the account holder. Ms. [Lynn] Prentiss [executive director of UCAP] advised that Mr. Kaufman did have access to all financial accounts of UCAP in his role as Director of Finance and Operations, however he did not have authorization to make any transfers to his personal accounts,” according to State Police documents," according to a State Police report.
“On August 30, 2022, a Court authorized search warrant was issued to TD Ameritrade regarding the above wire transfers. The records revealed that all four wire transfers were deposited into account REDACTED. The account belongs to Nathan Kaufman, DOB 11/20/86 of Joy Street, Providence, Rhode Island," according to State Police documents.
“UCAP provided information from Citizens Bank related to the wire transfers including audio phone calls and video surveillance. The video surveillance shows Nathan Kaufman in the Westminster Street branch on March 22, 2022, completing a wire transfer. The audio calls are from Nathan Kaufman on January 25, 2022, February 14, 2022 and May 10, 2022 requesting wire transfers from UCAP to his TD Ameritrade account REDACTED. On one of the calls, Mr. Kaufman stated that he has to transfer funds from within the Citizens Bank account to cover the transfer and completes the transfer while on the call,” reports the State Police.
Prentiss declined to provide comment about Kaufman to GoLocal on the record.
More Golf, More Alleged Stealing
Kaufman, who played out of the private golf club — Ledgement Country Club — was on the links before the State Police closed in.
And, there was more embezzlement.
Kaufman not only allegedly embezzled the four million dollars. There was more.
Kaufman’s Albatross
In August, Kaufman created a new company, Albatross Consulting, LLC. The address of the company for Kaufman’s new company was his home address on Joy Street — a small bungalow located near Providence College.
Kaufman has also transferred thousands more of UCAP’s funds to his new company.
"Ms. Prentiss advised that she also reviewed a separate UCAP account at Rockland Trust Bank. She discovered six (6) checks made payable to Albatross Consulting, LLC totaling twenty-four thousand dollars ($24,000.00) as follows:
March 11, 2022 - $8,000.00
April 29, 2022 - $4,000.00
May 13, 2022 - $4,000.00
May 27, 2022 - $4,000.00
July 13, 2022 - $4,000.00
“Ms. Prentiss stated that Albatross Consulting, LLC is a business owned by Mr. Kaufman. Ms. Prentiss also stated that UCAP has never had any contract with Albatross Consulting, LLC and there is no reason any payments should have been made to the business. Ms. Prentiss stated that in reviewing the Rockland Trust Bank account records, she was able to determine that the six (6) checks made payable to Albatross Consulting, LLC were deposited into a Citizens bank account,” according to State Police documents.
The State Police financial crime unit zeroed in on Kaufman.
“Lieutenant [Richard] Ptaszek spoke with Brandon Hayes, Operations Manager for Techcentric, the IT service provider for UCAP. Mr. Hayes stated that he oversees the UCAP account and has had direct contact with Mr. Kaufman on numerous occasions. Mr. Hayes was able to confirm that Mr. Kaufman was issued a laptop computer, which was purchased by UCAP on November 30, 2021, and described as a Dell XPS15-9500, serial REDACTED. Mr. Hayes advised that as a part of the service agreement with UCAP, he has the ability to monitor and/track activity on UCAP-owned computers. He stated that on July 13, 2022, the above-mentioned laptop was activated at 7:54 PM. Mr. Hayes was able to confirm that the laptop was activated outside of the UCAP location and was connected to the internet via a Verizon FIOS connection at IP address," according to State Police documents.
"An inquiry for the IP address revealed it to be a Verizon FIOS address located in Providence, Rhode Island. Additionally, a Geo Location of the IP address listed it to be located at the approximate latitude and longitude of 41.8333 – 71.4314. This location is within the area of the residence of Mr. Kaufman, 29 Joy Street, Providence, Rhode Island. Mr. Hayes was also able to view the screen of the laptop at the time of activation which showed files being downloaded from the laptop to an outside device. Additionally, Mr. Hayes was able to view various file icons on the screen, which included Albatross Consulting ..." according to the State Police.
"On August 30, 2022, a Court authorized search warrant was issued to Verizon FIOS regarding ownership of IP address, which revealed it belongs to Nathan Kaufman at 29 Joy Street, Providence, Rhode Island," reported the State Police.
Then it was over.
Kaufman was arrested.
What isn't known is his motivation— or if 2022 was his only embezzlement.
What is known is he was a good golfer — and he allegedly ripped off kids struggling to get an education.