(Source: USAO, NJ) NEWARK, N.J. – An inspector at the Union City Community Development Agency (UCCDA) was sentenced today to 20 months in prison for conspiring with contractors to rig the selection process for home improvement, sidewalk replacement and other projects, causing losses of at least $307,000, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced. Johnny Garces, 53, of Union City, New Jersey, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge...

(Source: arkansasonline.com) Lionell S. Moss, the executive director of the Helena Housing Authority, was arrested Friday on federal charges accusing him of illegally receiving $57,907 by submitting false reimbursement requests and using an agency credit card for personal expenses. Moss, 58, appeared briefly late Friday afternoon in the Little Rock courtroom of U.S. Magistrate Judge Joe Volpe and pleaded innocent to three charges -- two...

(Source: theadvocate.com) Louisiana stands to get $437.8 million in federal disaster aid in the coming months, as leaders work to develop a long-term plan for recovery from catastrophic flooding that has left thousands of homes damaged or destroyed across the state. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development on Thursday announced that Louisiana is in line for nearly 88 percent of the $500 million that Congress approved in a last-...

(Source: nj.com) TRENTON — An Ocean County couple who own two home improvement companies has been charged with stealing more than $1million from Hurricane Sandy victims and using the money to gamble and buy luxury items instead of repairing the homes they were hired to rebuild, authorities said Wednesday. Jeffrey Colmyer, 41, and Tiffany Cimino, 43, who live together in Little Egg Harbor, were arrested and charged Tuesday with theft by failure...

(Source: nj.com) WASHINGTON — Gov. Chris Christie's administration did not properly account for $43.1 million in Hurricane Sandy housing funds, according to a U.S. government watchdog. The inspector general for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development said the state did not ensure that the disbursements met a national objective, that the prices were fair and reasonable, the costs were necessary and there was proper documentation for...

(Source: njspotlight.com) Four years after Hurricane Sandy, a federal audit of money allotted to repair and rebuild in the hurricane’s aftermath has found that New Jersey “… did not have adequate controls in place to administer its contract and monitor contract performance and was not fully aware of federal procurement and cost principle requirements.” Hammerman and Gainer Inc., a Louisiana company that New Jersey paid $43 million to handle...

(USAO ,NY) Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Mark G. Peters, Commissioner of the New York City Department of Investigation (“DOI”), announced today the filing of criminal charges against six defendants for participating in long-running schemes to hide substantial assets and income obtained from significant business and real estate interests in order to attain government benefits designed for...

(Source: dnainfo.com) WILLIAMSBURG — Three Brooklyn couples, including a landlord with properties all over the borough, were arrested Tuesday on charges of defrauding the government of $1.3 million worth of benefits. Shlomo Kubitshuk, 38, and his wife Rachel, 39, Naftali, 40, and Hinda Englander, 41, and Leib, 39, and Devorah Teitelbaum, 36, were accused of lying about their income to the federal government as far back as 2001 in order to...

Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that JOHN SANDELLA, 54, of Orange, pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Stefan R. Underhill in Bridgeport to receiving unlawful compensation while serving as an employee of the West Haven Housing Authority. According to court documents and statements made in court, SANDELLA was employed as the Clerk of the Works for the West Haven Housing Authority (“...

(Source: Capital Gazette) A federal audit has found that due to poor record-keeping and improper spending, the Housing Authority of the City of Annapolis didn't always appropriately spend more than $400,000 in grants designed to help its residents improve their lives. The Office of Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development found the housing authority did not maintain documents to support the expenses of $401,859...

(Source: USAO, TN) Wendy Askins, 55, of Red Boiling Springs, Tenn., pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Aleta A. Trauger, to two counts of theft from a federally-funded entity, announced David Rivera, U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee. At the time of the offenses, Askins was the Executive Director for the Upper Cumberland Development District (UCDD), and also oversaw the daily operations of the Cumberland Regional...

(Source: News Channel 5) COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - A former deputy director at the Upper Cumberland Development District in Cookeville pleaded guilty Monday afternoon to a single count of federal bank fraud. As part of a plea deal with prosecutors, Larry Webb agreed to testify against longtime UCDD executive director Wendy Askins. Webb, who had faced a potential 220 years in federal prison and $6.75 million in fines, avoided any prison sentence under...

(USAO, District of Maine) Portland, Maine: United States Attorney Thomas E. Delahanty II announced thatTimothy P. Gallagher, 47, of Jay, Maine, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court by Judge Jon D. Levy to a year and a day in prison and three years of supervised release for federal program fraud. He was also ordered to pay $79,639 in restitution. He pled guilty on April 14, 2016. According to court records, between May and November 2014...

(Source: Portland Press Herald) Timothy P. Gallagher, 47, of Jay was sentenced to prison Tuesday on a federal fraud charge by Judge Jon D. Levy in U.S. District Court in Portland. Gallagher pleaded guilty in April to defrauding a company that received funding from programs administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. He was sentenced to one year and a day in prison and three years...

(Source: theadvertiser.com) Resources available from FEMA are not sufficient to ‘make you whole' again, Gov. John Bel Edwards said Thursday after speaking with Youngsville residents whose homes recently flooded. Edwards, Youngsville Mayor Ken Ritter and other local and state officials toured two Lafayette Parish neighborhoods hit hard by the devastating rain that flooded hundreds of homes starting Aug. 12. Nearly 12 inches of rain fell in three...

(Source: theadvocate.com) Louisiana’s congressional delegation is working on legislation for additional funding to supplement recovery efforts from the historic flooding. U.S. Sen. David Vitter said Thursday he and the other members of the delegation are gathering the facts and figures – number of homes and businesses lost, for instance – that would support a request for billions of extra dollars beyond the federal disaster assistance available...

(USAO, MA) BOSTON – A real estate developer and a former City of Worcester housing official were charged in U.S. District Court in Worcester this week in connection with a $2.3 million fraud scheme relating to the redevelopment of a multi-family property in Worcester. James E. Levin, 57, of Natick, a real estate developer and attorney, and Jacklyn M. Sutcivni, 43, of Dracut, a former employee of the City of Worcester’s Housing Development...

(OAJ, NJ) TRENTON –Attorney General Christopher S. Porrino announced that nine additional individuals have been charged criminally with filing fraudulent applications for federal relief funds related to Superstorm Sandy.  Since March 2014, the Attorney General’s Office has filed criminal charges against 71 people for allegedly engaging in this type of fraud, including the nine individuals charged today. The Attorney General’s Office is...

(Source: WDSU-TV NBC) NEW ORLEANS —Dangerous and unsafe living conditions for the elderly and disabled in New Orleans are coming to light in a lengthy report at Satchmo Plaza in Central City. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development issued multiple violations for an apartment complex for the elderly and disabled. The complex has dozens of units and  is operated by the Central City Housing Corp. They said one of the people on...

(Source: USAO, LA) LAFAYETTE, La. – United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced today that the former executive director of the Morgan City Housing Authority and three former employees were sentenced for a conspiracy related to theft of half a million dollars. Charles E. Spann, 78, of Kingsport, Tenn., was sentenced to 36 months in prison, three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $111,657.47 restitution on one count of...