A former executive at the community development nonprofit founded by Philadelphia music legend Kenny Gamble was convicted Wednesday of fleecing the organization out of more than a half-million dollars and then bribing an elected official in Milwaukee as part of a scheme to cover the cash crunch brought on by his theft.
The jury also convicted Dawan, 72, of one count of conspiring to cover up Islam’s thefts as well as $80,000 in unapproved bonuses he personally took home — a charge that could send him to prison for up to five years. But it acquitted the former accountant on 11 other charges, including all those connected to the political bribery scheme.
Former Milwaukee School Board President Michael Bonds told jurors Islam paid him $18,000 in bribes between 2014 and 2016 disguised through invoices to a company he owned, African American Books & Gifts. Gamble founded Universal nearly 30 years ago after cementing his music legacy in the 1970s as the originator — along with songwriting partner Leon Huff — of soul music’s distinctive “Sound of Philadelphia” with such hits as Freddie Scott’s “ Got What I Need,” Billy Paul’s “Me and Mrs. Jones” and the O’Jays “For the Love of Money.”
In government court filings, former employees at Universal schools said the nonprofit resorted to hiring under- and unqualified staffers because they could not afford to pay properly trained professionals. “While there were mistakes,” he told the jurors in his opening statement earlier this month, “there was no concentrated effort to cheat.”