Little information released on housing authority investigation
(Source: coshoctontribune.com) COSHOCTON – Officials are tight lipped regarding an ongoing investigation into the Coshocton Metropolitan Housing Authority regarding possible misappropriation of funds, however the board was to meet for an emergency meeting Tuesday evening.
The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the director's position, according to attorney Todd Drowns. The current executive director is Greg Darr. He's been with CMHA...
Article
Agosto 29, 2017
Greg Darr suspended as CMHA director
COSHOCTON – The board of the Coshocton Metropolitan Housing Authority suspended Executive Director Greg Darr indefinitely without pay during a special meeting Tuesday evening.
Lisa Mowery, Section 8 housing coordinator, was named interim director. The board will meet again at 8 a.m. Friday at the board office to discuss further business, including how it will handle owed sick leave and vacation time to Darr, who has been with CMHA since August...
Article
Agosto 29, 2017
Investigation underway into possible misappropriation of funds at housing authority
COSHOCTON - The Coshocton Metropolitan Housing Authority is being investigated for misappropriation of funds, according to Lt. Dean Hettinger of the Coshocton County Sheriff's Office.
A search warrant related to a long term investigation of misappropriation of funds was executed shortly after 11 a.m. Monday at the CMHA office, part of the Coshocton Meadows low-income housing complex at 823 Magnolia St., Hettinger said. Searching was done at the...
Article
Agosto 28, 2017
Real Estate Investor Sentenced in Mortgage Fraud Scheme
Memphis, TN – A Memphis real estate investor has been sentenced to 30 months in federal prison for his role in a scheme to fraudulently obtain mortgage loans. Lawrence J. Laurenzi, Acting U.S. Attorney, announced the sentence today.
An indictment returned last September by a federal grand jury alleged Thomas L. Boyd, 44, the owner of Wonderful Properties, LLC, made false statements and presented false documents to Regions Bank, First Tennesse...
Press release
Agosto 27, 2017
HUD audit finds accounting deficiencies at West Warwick Housing Authority
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced Wednesday that an audit of the West Warwick Housing Authority found that more than $2 million in “procurements” lacked proper documentation.
Stephen O’Rourke, who started last January as the authority’s new executive director, was not in charge during the audit period, Jan. 1, 2012, through June 30, 2016. He said Wednesday that many files were thrown out by an...
Article
Agosto 24, 2017
Ambler Man Charged With Defrauding FHA
Eugene Peter Kenworthy, Jr., age 50, of Ambler, PA, was charged today by Indictment with wire fraud, false statements for the purpose of influencing the Federal Housing Administration, aggravated identity theft, and failure to file a tax return, announced Acting United States Attorney Louis Lappen.
If convicted the defendant faces a maximum possible sentence is 166 years’ imprisonment, five years of supervised release, a $5,050,000 fine, and a...
Press release
Agosto 24, 2017
CMHA Police, federal agents raid home of accused nationwide Facebook scammer Zienup Sbeih
(Source: cleveland19.com) CLEVELAND, OH (WOIO) -
The woman accused in a nationwide Facebook scam operation is in more hot water.
Officers with the Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority Police Department and an agent with the U.S. Office of Inspector General Department of Housing and Urban Development were at Zienup Sbeih's home in the Villages of Carver Park off of East 45th Street and Quincy Friday afternoon.
Officers executed a county...
Article
Agosto 21, 2017
HUD Must get Better at Stopping Section 8 Fraud
(source: thetimesherald.com) If true, the allegations against Lorena Loren, the former director of the St. Clair Housing Commission, are disturbing on a number of levels. Federal investigators allege Loren embezzled more than $300,000 from the housing commission between 2008 and 2016, when she retired.
Most heartbreaking is that the money that Loren allegedly misdirected into her own pockets and those of some of her family members was meant to...
Article
Agosto 14, 2017
Former St. Clair Housing Official Charged with Fraud
(Source: thetimesherald.com) The St. Clair Housing Commission’s former executive director is facing a fraud charge for allegedly misusing federal rental assistance funds and commission credit cards to benefit herself and family members.
The charges allege Lorena Loren embezzled more than $300,000.
According to federal court documents filed Monday, Loren used Section 8 housing assistance payments to enter into fraudulent rental contracts...
Article
Agosto 07, 2017
Cashmere, WA Woman, Owner Of Defunct Real Estate Escrow Firm Indicted For Bank Fraud Totaling $2 Million
(Source: skyvalleychronicle.com) (SEATTLE, WA.) -- The owner of a now defunct Tukwila, WA based real estate escrow firm was indicted last month by a federal grand jury on ten counts of bank fraud, and one count each of mail and wire fraud, announced U.S. Attorney Annette L. Hayes in Seattle Friday.
Lori Lynn Andrew, 48, now of Cashmere, Washington near Wenatchee, the owner of Hartman Escrow, Inc., was arrested and arraigned on the indictment...
Article
Agosto 06, 2017
Former Ft. Myers Housing Director Pleads Guilty to Embezzling Thousands
Department of Justice
Acting United States Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow
Middle District of Florida
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ...
Press release
Agosto 01, 2017
Couple Sent to Prison for Scheme to Steal HUD Funds Intended for the Cotton Plant Housing Authority
LITTLE ROCK—Patrick C. Harris, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, Tracey D. Montaño, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Criminal Investigation Division, and Phyllis G. Robinson, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)—Office of Inspector General, announced today that Chief United States District Judge Brian S. Miller sentenced Rhonda Williams, 50, and...
Press release
Julio 31, 2017
Five More Individuals Charged With Filing False Applications for Superstorm Sandy Relief Funds
TRENTON –Attorney General Christopher S. Porrino announced that five additional individuals were charged criminally today 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 96 people for allegedly engaging in this type of fraud, including the five individuals just charged.
The Attorney General’s Office is continuing its...
Press release
Julio 27, 2017
Cityside Management Corporation Pays $4.3 Million to Resolve False Claims Act Allegations
CITYSIDE MANAGEMENT CORPORATION PAYS $4.3 MILLION TO RESOLVE FALSE CLAIMS ACT ALLEGATIONS
Office of the United States Attorney
Eastern District of California
U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, July 26, 2017
www.justice.gov/edca
CONTACT: LAUREN HORWOOD
PHONE: 916-554-2706
[email protected]
CITYSIDE MANAGEMENT CORPORATION PAYS $4.3 MILLION TO RESOLVE FALSE CLAIMS ACT ALLEGATIONS
FRESNO, Calif. —...
Press release
Julio 26, 2017
Secret Meetings, Collusion Alleged
(Source: The Guam Daily Post) Six people who were on the board of federally funded Guam Housing and Urban Renewal Authority, and the agency's executive director, face a combined 47 misdemeanor charges for allegedly holding secret meetings that violate the Open Government Law.
The misdemeanor charges include violation of the law that requires keeping meetings open to the public, as well as official misconduct and conspiracy.
"Illegal secret...
Article
Julio 26, 2017
Newark Police Officer Admits Conspiracy To Commit Fraud Against Housing Assistance Program
NEWARK, N.J. – A Newark police officer today admitted conspiring to fraudulently obtain payments under the federal public housing assistance program known as “Section 8,” Acting U.S. Attorney William E. Fitzpatrick announced.
Luis Cancel, 50, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Jose L. Linares in Newark federal court to an information charging him with one count of agreeing with another individual to obtain Section 8 public housing...
Press release
Julio 24, 2017
Former Employee Of Commercial Supply Company Admits Fraud, False Testimony Before Grand Jury
TRENTON, N.J. – A former salesman at Bayway Lumber, a Linden, New Jersey, company that sold commercial and industrial products to numerous public and private entities, today admitted his role in a scheme to defraud customers and lying to a federal grand jury, Acting U.S. Attorney William E. Fitzpatrick announced.
Adam Martignetti, 43, of South River, New Jersey, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Peter G. Sheridan in Trenton federal...
Press release
Julio 24, 2017
Middle District Of Florida’s Civil Division Advances Reverse Mortgage Fraud Enforcement Initiative By Resolving Civil Fraud Claims Against Tarpon Springs Condominium Complex Owner
Tampa, FL – Acting United States Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow announces a civil settlement with Alexander Olympus Zarris that resolves alleged violations of the False Claims Act (“FCA”) and the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 (“FIRREA”) through reverse mortgage transactions engineered by Zarris at a Tarpon Springs condominium complex. Zarris will pay $475,000 to address the damage his conduct caused to a...
Press release
Julio 20, 2017
Fraudsters Sentenced for Operating Nationwide Home Mortgage Scam
ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Three California residents were sentenced today to a combined 39 years in prison for their roles in a nationwide, multi-year “home mortgage modification” fraud that scammed thousands of vulnerable victims out of at least $11 million.
Sammy Araya, 41, of Santa Ana, was sentenced to 20 years, Michael Henderson, 49, of Costa Mesa, was sentenced to 12 years, and Jen Seko, 36, of Anaheim, was sentenced to 7 years in prison,...
Press release
Julio 20, 2017
Vice President of Local Drywall Company Sentenced for Income Tax Fraud
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Vice President of Porter Drywall and Black Star Drywall, Inc. was sentenced in U.S. District Court to five years of probation and ordered to pay more than $25,000 in restitution to the IRS for filing a false income tax return.
As a condition of his probation, Robert E. Porter, 53, of Westerville, Ohio, must ensure that Porter Drywall subscribes to proper governmental forms and otherwise complies with all tax, labor and...
Press release
Julio 19, 2017