Four individuals were charged in an eight-count indictment, unsealed today, which alleges federal program fraud, money laundering and perjury, announced U.S. Attorney Matthew Schneider. Schneider was joined in the announcement by Brad Geary, Special Agent in Charge of the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Inspector General and Special Agent in Charge Timothy R. Slater, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Detroit Division…

A Euclid woman was sentenced to more than nine years in prison for a scheme in which she fraudulently enrolled students into Ohio community colleges to defraud the U.S. Department of Education out of $1.8 million. Basheera Perry, 45, was sentenced to 114 months in prison and ordered to pay nearly $1.9 million in restitution. She previously pleaded guilty to numerous charges, including conspiracy, wire and mail fraud and aggravated identity…

A contractor from North Royalton was indicted for paying cash bribes to a City of Cleveland building official. Martin Fano, 69, was indicted on seven counts of honest services mail and wire fraud. According to the indictment: Fano owned and operated ABC Construction LLC, a business that provided demolition and construction services in the Cleveland area. The company did demolition work for the City of Cleveland, the Cuyahoga County Land Bank…

(Source: Cleveland.com) CLEVELAND, Ohio — A North Royalton contractor is charged with paying bribes to a former Cleveland official, as part of an expanding federal probe into corruption within the city’s demolition operations. A federal grand jury indicted ABC Construction owner Martin Fano Wednesday on seven counts of honest services mail and wire fraud. The U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a statement that the 69 year old paid cash bribes to…

(Source: NEWS5CLEVELAND.COM) NORTH ROYALTON, Ohio — A North Royalton contractor was indicted for allegedly paying cash bribes to a Cleveland building official, according to a news release from the Department of Justice. Martin Fano, 69, was indicted on seven counts of honest services mail and wire fraud, according to the release. Fano, who owned and operated ABC Construction LLC, did demolition work for the City of Cleveland, the Cuyahoga…

(Source: crainscleveland)  A North Royalton contractor was indicted Wednesday, Feb. 6, by a federal grand jury for paying cash bribes to a Cleveland building official. Martin Fano, who owned and operated ABC Construction LLC, was indicted on seven counts of honest services mail and wire fraud. According to the indictment, ABC Construction, which did demolition work for the city of Cleveland, the Cuyahoga Land Bank and others, paid bribes…

(Source: www.tristatehomepage.com) On Monday, United States Attorney Josh J. Minkler announced that the former Echo Housing Corporation Executive Director Stephanie Tenbarge was indicted on three counts of theft concerning programs receiving federal funds. Tenbarge, 71, was arrested Monday and will appear before a federal magistrate judge for her initial appearance. Click here to read the indictment. Tenbarge was accused in 2018 of misusing…

Evansville –United States Attorney Josh J. Minkler announced today that an Evansville, Indiana woman who worked as the Executive Director at Echo Housing Corporation, was indicted on three counts of theft concerning programs receiving federal funds. Stephanie L. TenBarge, 71, Evansville, was arrested today and will appear before a federal magistrate judge for her initial appearance. Echo Housing Corporation is a non-profit organization based in…

Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York (“SDNY”), Ben Carson, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”), and Andrew Wheeler, Acting Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”), announced today the signing of an administrative agreement (“Agreement”) with the NEW YORK CITY HOUSING AUTHORITY (“NYCHA”) and the CITY OF NEW YORK (the “City”) requiring…

(Source: brownsvilleherald.com) A man admitted to defrauding the Brownsville Housing Authority Tuesday afternoon by concealing income he earned through selling firearms, gun kits and ammunition, court documents and hearings revealed. Gilberto Usdel Tello pleaded guilty in front of U.S. District Judge Rolando Olvera to lying to a special agent with the Department of Housing and Urban Development-Office of the Inspector General, or HUD-OIG, by…

(Source: Honolulu Star Advertiser) A former U.S. Housing and Urban Development employee accused of collecting Section 8 rental assistance on properties she and her husband managed and controlled pleaded not guilty in U.S. District Court Wednesday to five counts of wire fraud. Chun Mei Tong, 42, a former HUD financial analyst, also pleaded not guilty to three counts of aggravated identity theft. She was accused of signing Section 8 owner…

(SOURCE: Cleveland19.com) CLEVELAND, OH (WOIO) - A major new development surfaced Wednesday in a lucrative Facebook scam first exposed by a Cleveland 19 undercover investigation in June 2017. A Cuyahoga County grand jury has indicted Zienup Sbeih-Maddox, 24, of Cleveland; Kirsten Laurie, 26, of Cleveland; and Kimberly St. John-Stevenson, 54, of Cleveland Heights, in connection with the social media scam, which investigators say defrauded…

CHICAGO — A federal grand jury in Chicago has indicted a businessman on tax evasion charges for allegedly scheming to evade personal income taxes for three years. As the owner of the security firm World Security Bureau, ABRAHAM KISWANI, also known as “Ibriham Kiswani,” willfully failed to pay the full amount of taxes on his personal income for the calendar years 2010, 2012, and 2013, according to an indictment returned in U.S. District Court in…

(SOURCE: KSTP.com) A source told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS the Office of the Department of Housing and Urban Development Inspector General is now investigating the theft of $270,000 from the Dakota County Community Development Agency. KSTP first reported in August that 39-year-old CDA employee, Yanglee Yang, had been fired in connection with the missing money. Yang was subsequently charged with five counts of theft in early November…

(Source: cleveland.com) CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A former Cuyahoga Land Bank employee was indicted in federal court on charges that accuse him of helping a demolition company get contracts in exchange for performing improvements to his Cleveland Heights home. Kenneth Tyson, 48, was indicted on one count of conspiracy to commit bribery and honest services fraud, three counts of honest services wire fraud and one count of bribery, the U.S. Attorney’s…

United States Attorney Erica H. MacDonald today announced a federal indictment charging ROBERT ANTHONY COLEMAN, 45, and YOLANDA YVETTE COLEMAN aka YOLANDA YVETTE PITTMAN, 50, with multiple counts related to the theft of more than $248,000 of government funds. ROBERT COLEMAN is also charged with two counts of false statements and an additional count of Social Security fraud. They will make their initial appearances in U.S. District Court at a…

United States Attorney Erica H. MacDonald today announced a federal indictment charging ROBERT ANTHONY COLEMAN, 45, and YOLANDA YVETTE COLEMAN aka YOLANDA YVETTE PITTMAN, 50, with multiple counts related to the theft of more than $248,000 of government funds. ROBERT COLEMAN is also charged with two counts of false statements and an additional count of Social Security fraud. They will make their initial appearances in U.S. District Court at a…

A former executive director of a Cleveland community development corporation was arrested this morning for embezzling more than $172,000 from the Collinwood and Nottingham Villages Development Corporation. Tamiko Parker, 46, of Cleveland, is scheduled to appear on Thursday at 2 p.m. in U.S. District Court in Cleveland. She has been indicted on one count of theft of federal funds. Parker served as executive director of Collinwood and Nottingham…

(Source: cleveland.com) CLEVELAND, Ohio — The former executive director of the Collinwood & Nottingham Villages Development Corporation was arrested by federal authorities Thursday on accusations that she stole money from the CDC. Tamiko Parker, 46, of Cleveland is charged with theft concerning programs receiving federal funds. The CDC, a nonprofit on the city’s East Side that develops and leases property, lost more than $172,000. She…

NEWARK, N.J. – A former candidate for the Hoboken City Council and a campaign worker were charged today by a federal grand jury with conspiracy to promote a voter bribery scheme by use of the mail, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced. Francis Raia, 67, of Hoboken, New Jersey, was a candidate for city council in 2013. Dio Braxton, 43, of Hoboken, worked for Raia’s campaign. A federal grand jury charged them today with conspiracy to violate…