HATTIESBURG, MS (WDAM) A Hub City pastor has been indicted in federal court on charges for defrauding the U.S. government. Rev. Kenneth Fairley was served with six-count indictment. Count 1 - Conspiracy to defraud the United States. Count 2 and 3 - Theft of government money. Count 4 - Conspiracy to commit money laundering. Count 5 and 6 - Engaging in monetary transactions. Fairley, pastor of Mt. Carmel Baptist Church, appeared before…

(Source: OAG, NJ) TRENTON – Acting Attorney General John J. Hoffman 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 50 people for allegedly engaging in this type of fraud, including the five individuals charged today. The Attorney General’s Office is…

(Source: Ventura County Star) William Reed ran the city's emergency solutions grant program, which is part of the Oxnard Housing Department. The program helps homeless families and others get shelter and housing. Ventura County prosecutors said Reed abused his position of trust by misappropriating money that should have gone to the homeless. "He falsified documents so that checks could be issued to three unqualified individuals...

(Source: LA Times) Two executives at a Los Angeles-based real estate development company and two of their employees have been indicted on charges they defrauded government agencies of millions of dollars in funds for housing low-income families. The 67-page federal grand jury indictment says Salim Karimi and three others at Advanced Development and Investment Inc. engaged in a conspiracy to fraudulently obtain more than $50 million in loan…

The former executive director of the Newark Watershed Conservation and Development Corp. (NWCDC) today admitted accepting approximately $999,000 in kickback payments in exchange for her assistance in awarding work to various vendors and contractors of the agency, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced. Linda Watkins Brashear, 56, of West Orange, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge José Linares in Newark federal court to Counts 1 and 5 of…

(Source: nj.gov) TRENTON – Acting Attorney General John J. Hoffman announced that eight 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 45 people for allegedly engaging in this type of fraud, including the eight individuals charged today. The Attorney General’s Office…

(Source: nj.com) TRENTON — A Toms River man who received more than $218,000 in Hurricane Sandy relief aid has admitted to filing fraudulent applications for funding from government-run storm recovery programs, authorities said. Gregory Wagner, 63, pleaded guilty in state Superior Court on Monday to third-degree theft by deception, according to the New Jersey Attorney General's Office. Wagner claimed a storm-damaged rental property he owned in…

TRENTON – Acting Attorney General John J. Hoffman 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 37 people for allegedly engaging in this type of fraud, including the five individuals charged today. The Attorney General’s Office is continuing its…

NEWARK, NJ—An inspector at the Union City Community Development Agency (UCCDA) today admitted conspiring with contractors to rig the selection process for home improvement, sidewalk replacement and other projects, causing losses of at least $400,000, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced. Johnny Garces, 52, of Union City, New Jersey, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge William H. Walls in Newark federal court to an information charging…

TRENTON, NJ—A Hudson County, New Jersey, man, today admitted to colluding with other contractors to secure projects funded by U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development grants, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced. John Youngclaus, 43, of Bayonne, New Jersey, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Peter G. Sheridan in Trenton federal court to an information charging him with theft of $224,250 in government funds. According to…

TRENTON -- The owner of a Bayonne plumbing and heating company admitted in federal court today to colluding with other contractors to secure projects funded by federal grants, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced. John Youngclaus, 43, of Bayonne, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Peter G. Sheridan in Trenton to an the theft of $224,250 in government funds. Youngclaus faces up to 10 years in prison and fines of up to $250,000 when he…

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — An audit report released Monday by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Office of Inspector General said the state of Rhode Island "did not properly administer" federal money given through the Neighborhood Stabilization Program, and "as a result, HUD had no assurance that more than $6.3 million ... was effectively and efficiently used." The inspector general recommended that HUD require the state to "repay…

Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that DAVID J. BERTNAGEL, 41, of Thomaston, waived his right to indictment and pleaded guilty today in Bridgeport federal court to theft and tax charges stemming from his embezzlement of more than $800,000 from the Town of Plymouth. According to court documents and statements made in court, from October 2011 through October 2014, BERTNAGEL was employed as the…

TRENTON — Four more New Jersey residents were accused today of lying on applications for federal relief funds in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy to obtain more than $161,000, state authorities said, bringing the total number of those charged since March to a dozen. Mary Conlin, 51, of West Chester, Pa., allegedly claimed her home in Manahawkin was her primary residence, when in fact it was a vacation home. She was approved for a $145,900 small…

NEWARK — The former executive director of an East Orange-based non-profit developer of low-income housing was arrested today on charges she had embezzled more than $380,000 from the corporation, the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement this evening. Lancie Marchan, 64, who headed the East Orange Revitalization and Development Corporation, used the money for trips, hotel stays, visits to casinos and gifts, among other things, the…

GRAND RAPIDS — A St. Johns businessman has pleaded guilty to charges that he submitted false claims to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, federal prosecutors announced today. James Ortman, 58, admitted earlier this month to defrauding HUD out of a $200,000 grant in 2008 for a facade project for a building in downtown St. Johns. He also admitted to defrauding the government on another grant for an apartment complex in St.…

Like a fire-and-brimstone preacher, a federal judge dressed down a local pastor and former Columbus Urban League official yesterday before sentencing him to 31/2 years in prison for stealing more than $85,000 from the league. U.S. District Judge Algenon L. Marbley chastised defendant Ovell K. Harrison for undermining the Urban League and filling his own pockets for seven years with money that should have gone to those in need of housing, child…

A New Orleans-based contractor who admitted to over-billing a Road Home subsidiary $236,000 was sentenced in federal court Wednesday to two-and-a-half years in prison. Praveen Kailas, a prominent and politically connected contractor, admitted to overbilling the state's Small Rental Property Program, a subset of Road Home designed to aid property owners in rebuilding their units after hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Kailas said he approved and…

TRENTON, N.J. – A federal grand jury in New Jersey has indicted the developer of three Trenton affordable housing projects for allegedly diverted money intended for the developments, announced New Jersey U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman. A federal grand jury returned a 25-count indictment today charging Robert Kahan, 67, of Sunny Isles Beach, Fla., with 10 counts of making false statement in a loan application, three counts of bank fraud…

TRENTON -- Over the course of building affordable housing in Trenton, developer Robert Kahan misstated his net worth in order to obtain huge loans, then skimmed money from the accounts to buy a condominium in Florida and make repairs on his son’s home, a federal indictment alleged today. The 25 count-indictment includes bank fraud, mail fraud, fraud against a local government receiving federal proceeds, and making false statements on a loan…