(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: USAO, NY) BUFFALO, N.Y.-U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul Jr. announced today that Alagi Samba, 46, of Bronx, NY, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud affecting a financial institution, before U.S. District Judge Laurence J. Vilardo. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison and a $1,000,000 fine. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kathleen A. Lynch and Elizabeth Moellering, who are handling the case, stated that...

(Source: nj.com) A former West New York commissioner will spend about a year on house arrest for collecting nearly $150,000 in rental income while being in default of a federal mortgage loan. Ruben Vargas pleaded guilty to equity skimming in May after obtaining a $417,449 loan through the Department of Housing and Urban Development to buy a two-family home at 5512 Grant Place. Vargas collected about $3,000 each month in rental income from the...

(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...

After superstorm Sandy ripped through New Jersey and destroyed tens of thousands of homes, the federal goverment sent $4.2 billion here for housing programs. The state hired a Louisiana company to help set up and run three key housing programs, but it was fired after less than nine months on the job. A federal government watchdog is now saying New Jersey should either prove the company it hired spent federal money appropriately or...

(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...

(Source: federalsoup.com) The Department of Housing and Urban Development needs to improve oversight of its travel and purchase card programs, according to a report from the HUD inspector general. While HUD has put controls in place to identify cardholder travel card program violations, the report from HUD's Office of Inspector General said the agency did not successfully identify patterns of abuse. The OIG found 3,671 instances of cardholders...

(USAO, CT) Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that JOHN VESCERA, 60, of Dana Point, Calif., was sentenced today by Chief U.S. District Judge Janet C. Hall in New Haven to 12 months and one day of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for false advertising and misusing a government seal in connection with the provision of mortgage modification services. According to court...

(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...

(Source: USAO, TN) Memphis, TN – A real estate investor has been charged in a 14-count indictment that alleges he defrauded three banks and a mortgage lending business. Edward L. Stanton III, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee, announced the indictment today. According to the indictment, Thomas L. Boyd, 43, of Memphis, Tennessee, owned a real estate agency, Wonderful Properties, LLC. Between April 2006 and September 2014, Boyd...

(Source: commercialappeal.com) A Memphis real estate investor has been charged with defrauding three banks and a mortgage lender in a 14-count indictment announced Thursday, according to the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee. Thomas Boyd, 43, has been charged with eight counts of bank fraud, two counts of mail fraud and four counts of money laundering. Each count of bank fraud carries a penalty of up to 30 years in federal...

BOSTON – The former assistant property manager of Roxse Homes, a subsidized housing development in Boston, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Boston for his role in a scheme to rent apartments at the housing development to individuals who were not qualified in exchange for cash bribes. Mathis Lemons, 42, of Brockton, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Chief Judge Patti B. Saris to two years in prison, one year of supervised...

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 (“...

Regions Bank (Regions) has agreed to pay $52.4 million to the United States to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by knowingly originating and underwriting mortgage loans insured by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Federal Housing Administration (FHA) that did not meet applicable requirements, the Department of Justice announced today.  Regions is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama....

(Source: USAO, CT) Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that MEHDI MOAREFIAN, also known as “Michael Miller,” 37, of Irvine, California, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Stefan R. Underhill in Bridgeport to 52 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for participating in an extensive mortgage loan modification scheme.  MOAREFIAN also was ordered to pay...

(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 CT) Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that two California residents involved in an extensive mortgage loan modification scheme were sentenced today in Bridgeport federal court.  U.S. District Judge Stefan R. Underhill sentenced SERJ GEUTSSOYAN, also known as “Anthony Kirk,” 34, of Santa Ana, to 52 months of imprisonment, and DANIEL SHIAU, also known as “Scott Decker,” 30, of...

(Source: USAO, VBA) ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Five California men have been sentenced for their roles in a nationwide home loan modification scam that victimized over 400 homeowners and families, resulting in a total loss of over $3.8 million. Roscoe Umali, 38, of Santa Ana, California, was sentenced on August 18 to 220 months in prison for leading the multi-state conspiracy.  Umali was also ordered to forfeit $3.8 million and to make...