Students from overseas more often than not have to depend on scholarships to fund their dreams of securing a U.S. degree. But, what if the person who is responsible for granting these scholarships takes advantage of the vulnerability of the students?

According to the prosecutors, that's exactly what 59-year-old Cecilia Chang did.

Chang , who was a St.John's University Dean, allegedly made students do her domestic chores under the threat that she would withdraw the scholarships if they did not comply. She apparently did this for a period of 20 years.

She is facing a federal law suit for forced labor and embezzlement. In the 10-count indictment, she also faces charges of bribery.

She was the dean of Asian studies and controlled scholarships for foreign students to attend the institution based in Queens, New York.

According to the prosecutor, students were at her beck and call and also had to serve her son and her friends. She allegedly made them wash her underwear, clean her home and cook her meals.

On one instance, she even made a student drive her son to airport at 3 a.m. in the morning, Bloomberg reports.

"Chang threatened the students and placed them in fear that if they refused to perform these personal services they would lose their scholarships and be unable to attend St. John's," FBI special agent Kenneth F. Hosey said in the complaint, reports Bloomberg.

The scholarships apparently covered full tuition fee of the university. In addition, she is also accused of embezzling thousands of dollars of university money to fund her gambling addiction and other luxuries.

The federal case accuses her of trying to conceal the stealing of money by altering the financial records.

"She funded a life of excess with money meant for the students," Assistant U.S. Attorney Lan Ngyuen said in her opening statement in Brooklyn Federal Court Tuesday.

"She betrayed the students she was supposed to mentor," Ngyuen said.

She was initially accused in September 2010 of embezzling more than $1 million from St. John's and was charged with grand larceny, among others. She was released on a $1.5 million bond in October of the same year.

Court documents say that she was again sent to jail over prosecutors concerns over her alcoholism and the fear that she may abscond. She was released Oct.5 under certain conditions.