Lucresha Frank, 41, of Pontiac, a former manager of the Colony Arms apartments in Detroit, pleaded guilty to bribery, United States Attorney Matthew Schneider announced today. Schneider was joined in the announcement by Brad Geary, Special Agent in Charge, Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Inspector General and Timothy R. Slater, Special Agent in Charge of the Detroit Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. In 2013, Frank...

(Source: www.crainsdetroit.com) A former manager of an apartment building in Detroit's English Village neighborhood has pleaded guilty to accepting cash bribes from hopeful tenants who were on a waiting list for low-cost housing units. Lucresha Frank, 41, admitted to soliciting and accepting the bribes as manager of Colony Arms, at 9303 E. Jefferson Ave., which is funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, according to a...

BOSTON – A Roxbury man identified as John Doe was arrested today and arraigned in federal court in Boston. According to the indictment unsealed today, Doe repeatedly used a Social Security number that was not his, including to obtain a U.S. passport, which he then used to enter the U.S., and in support of a claim for Massachusetts unemployment insurance benefits. The indictment also charges that Doe obtained public housing benefits worth over $...

(Source: orangecountyda.org) Case # 17CF2429 Date: July 17, 2018 MAN SENTENCED TO EIGHT YEARS IN PRISON FOR UNLAWFUL LOAN MODIFICATION AND MONEY LAUNDERING AFTER DEFRAUDING NEARLY $2.3 MILLION FROM 387 HOMEOWNERS SANTA ANA, Calif. – A man was convicted and sentenced on Friday to eight years in state prison for operating an unlawful loan modification and money laundering scam that defrauded nearly $2.3 million from 387 homeowners.  ...

(Source: cleveland.com) CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A mother and her daughter face federal charges as part of scams to get ill-gotten money from the U.S. Department of Education through filing fraudulent student aid paperwork. Elizabeth Westmoreland, 69, and Basheera Perry, 45, face charges of conspiracy, wire fraud, mail fraud, aggravated identity theft and theft of government property. Perry, who lives in Euclid, is charged with defrauding the...

Benjamin G. Greenberg, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Rafiq Ahmad, Special Agent in Charge, United States Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General (DOL-OIG), Nadine Gurley, Special Agent in Charge, United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Inspector General (HUD-OIG), Juan J. Perez, Director, Miami-Dade Police Department (MDPD), and Mary T. Cagle, Inspector General, Miami Dade County...

BOSTON – A real estate attorney was sentenced today in connection with a sweeping conspiracy to defraud banks and mortgage companies by engaging in sham “short” sales of residential properties in Merrimack Valley. Jasmin Polanco, 37, of Methuen, was sentenced by U.S. Senior District Court Judge Douglas P. Woodlock to 15 months in prison, three year of supervised release and ordered to pay $1,224,489 in restitution. In March 2018, Polanco...

John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that STEVEN F. HARVIN, 53, of New Haven, was arrested today on a criminal complaint charging him with wire fraud and theft from programs receiving federal funds. After his arrest, HARVIN appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Sarah A. L. Merriam in New Haven and was released on a $50,000 bond. According to the complaint, the Housing Opportunities for Persons with...

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – A former executive of a Springfield, Missouri charity, who was also an Arkansas lobbyist, pleaded guilty in federal court today to bribing Arkansas elected officials in a multi-million-dollar scheme, and then along with other charity executives, embezzling millions of dollars from the Springfield health care organization. Acting Assistant Attorney General John P. Cronan of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S....

BOSTON – A mortgage loan officer was sentenced yesterday in federal court in Boston in connection with a sweeping conspiracy to defraud banks and mortgage companies by engaging in sham “short” sales of residential properties in Merrimack Valley. Vanessa Ricci, 41, of Methuen, a mortgage loan officer, was sentenced to six months in prison, three years of supervised release and ordered to pay restitution of $963,730. In March 2018, Ricci pleaded...

Joseph Fulmore, Jr., 45, of Clarksville, Tenn., was sentenced today to serve three years on federal probation and to pay $17,210.70 in restitution for making false statements in order to obtain public housing benefits, announced U.S. Attorney Don Cochran of the Middle District of Tennessee.  Chief U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw, Jr., also ordered Fulmore to perform 120 hours of community service. Fulmore was indicted on September 20...

NEWARK, N.J. – A Jackson, New Jersey, man was sentenced today to 18 months in prison for his role in a large-scale mortgage fraud scheme that used phony documents and straw buyers to acquire more than $6 million in loans, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced. Joseph DiValli previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Susan D. Wigenton to a superseding information charging him with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, one...

(Source:Times of Northwest Indiana) HAMMOND — A former official of the Hammond Housing Authority has pleaded guilty to embezzling $633,628 in federal housing assistance money. U.S. Attorney Thomas L. Kirsch II announced Friday morning he charged Michelle Seljan, 47, of Hammond, last month with theft of federal funds and tax evasion. She pleaded guilty April 27 before U.S. District Court Judge Jon E. DeGuilio in South Bend to both felony...

(Source: Niagara Gazette) BUFFALO -- In a courtroom packed with dozens of Niagara Falls community leaders and others, Stephanie Cowart told a federal judge she never expected that she would face the prospect of prison. "I lived my life, never expecting to appear in court under these circumstances," she said. "My life's mission, my life's passion has been to build strong communities. My priorities are God, family and community." But Cowart was...

(Source: New Haven Register) ASBURY PARK, N.J. (AP) — The former executive director of a housing authority at the New Jersey shore is headed to prison for diverting more than $90,000 in state grant money so he could give himself unauthorized raises. Mark Holmes Sr. received a five-year sentence Friday and must pay $35,000 in restitution. The 56-year-old Lawrence Township man had pleaded guilty in January to theft. Monmouth County prosecutors...

McALLEN, Texas ‐ The former director of the La Joya Housing Authority and another man have been ordered to federal prison for a bid rigging scheme, announced U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Patrick. Juan Jose Garza, 50, of La Joya, and Mexican national Armando Jimenez, 53, pleaded guilty to wire fraud May 3, 2017.  Today, U.S. District Judge Ricardo H. Hinojosa ordered Garza to serve 37 months in prison, while Jimenez received an 18-month-prison...

McALLEN — He was just a cook at Stilettos Cabaret, a gentleman’s bar here, when Armando Jimenez met Juan Jose “JJ” Garza, the former executive director of the La Joya Housing Authority. Jimenez wanted to try something other than cooking to make a living, especially to help his daughter financially with school, so when Garza offered to work together in construction, he took it. This led to Jimenez and Garza now having to serve time in prison. On...

CHICAGO (CBS) — It’s back to jail, at least for now, for a man accused of defrauding more than 100 Chicago seniors. CBS 2’s Jim Williams reports a federal judge hasn’t yet decided if Mark Diamond should be released on bond. Barbara Bailey’s mother was a victim. She says she wants the man responsible to stay in jail. “If Mr. Diamond is out, he can still go into the neighborhood or contact people to still scheme and defraud people,” says Bailey....

CHICAGO -- A man accused of scamming elderly Chicagoans out of their homes was in federal court Thursday for a bond hearing. Prosecutors want the judge to deny bond for Mark Diamond. He and an alleged accomplice, Cynthia Wallace, are charged with fraud. Prosecutors say they conned people into fake reverse mortgages, swindling $10 million. There are 120 victims, mostly black women on the South and West sides. Some have died.

(Source: clickondetroit) ST. CLAIR COUNTY, Mich. - The former executive of the St. Clair Housing Commission was sentenced Wednesday in connection with the conspiracy to commit fraud and steal more than $336,000 in federal funds. Lorena Loren was sentenced to 37 months in prison after pleading guilty to conspiring to commit federal program fraud, U.S. Attorney Matthew Schneider said. Loren, 55, of Nicholls, Georgia, admitted to conspiring with...