TRENTON – Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal announced that a man who worked at a state-operated housing recovery center in Newark after Superstorm Sandy has been indicted on charges that he demanded thousands of dollars in bribes and fictitious fees from storm victims, fraudulently representing to the victims that he could expedite and/or increase the federal relief funds they received. The Division of Criminal Justice Financial & Computer…

(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…

TRENTON – Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal today announced that the Attorney General’s Office and its state and federal partners have charged four new defendants with filing fraudulent applications for federal relief funds related to Superstorm Sandy, bringing the total number of defendants charged by the office in these cases to 116 since March 2014. “Any fraud against public assistance programs is deplorable, but these thefts were especially…

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…

LOS ANGELES – A federal jury in Los Angeles convicted a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer for abusing a program that provided discounted homes to law enforcement officers and misleading an investigator during a background investigation for security clearance. Kanit Kunnaragthai, 49, of Palmdale, was found guilty Thursday afternoon following a three-day trial in United States District Court. The jury found Kunnaragthai guilty of…

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…

United States Attorney John H. Durham and Connecticut Attorney General George Jepsen today announced that COMMUNITY RENEWAL TEAM and its president, LENA RODRIGUEZ, have entered into a civil settlement agreement with the United States and the State of Connecticut and have paid $362,000 to resolve allegations that they violated the federal and state False Claims Acts. Community Renewal Team (“CRT”) is a Hartford-based community action agency that…

(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:News 12 New Jersey) TRENTON, N.J. -  Three more New Jersey residents have been charged with filing fraudulent applications for Superstorm Sandy relief. The new cases were announced Friday by the state Attorney General's Office. Officials say that Fair Lawn resident Diane DiCosmo falsely claimed a home in Lavallette as a primary residence. She fraudulently collected $177,000, according to the attorney general. Matawan couple Barry…

(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…

NEWARK, N.J. – The former executive director of a Newark-based childcare and community program and a partner in a political fundraising and consulting company was sentenced today to 38 months in prison for wire fraud and tax evasion, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced. Kiburi D. Tucker, 43, of Newark, previously pleaded guilty before Chief U.S. District Judge Jose L. Linares to an information charging him with one count of wire fraud and…

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…

(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…

Lorena Loren, the former executive director of the St. Clair Housing Commission, was sentence today to 37 months in federal prison after having pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit federal program fraud, announced United States 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 and Jeffery E. Peterson, Acting Special Agent in…

(Source: news-gazette) ROSSVILLE — All five members of the Vermilion County Housing Authority Board of Commissioners resigned Monday night out of frustration with federal officials' handling of an unpaid loan that's resulted in Longview Bank and Trust filing suit against the housing authority. Former Commissioner Terry Prillaman announced at the close of Monday night's regular meeting in Rossville that he was resigning, even though he was not a…

LAFAYETTE, La. – United States Attorney Alexander C. Van Hook announced today that the former Duson Housing Authority director pleaded guilty to stealing more than $110,000 in funds. Patsy Clark, 60, of Duson, La., pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Patrick Hanna on one count of federal program theft. The plea will become final after it is approved by U.S. District Judge Elizabeth E. Foote. According to the guilty plea, Clark was the…

(Source: Tulsa World) A former Tulsa Housing Authority executive pleaded guilty Wednesday in federal court to a misdemeanor charge of submitting fraudulent audits to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. LaDeanna Anderson, 55, former THA executive vice president and chief operating officer, faces a sentence of up to one year in prison and a $100,000 fine after pleading guilty before a magistrate in Tulsa federal court. Assistant…

(Source: fox23.com) News Video: Former Tulsa Housing Authority Execs Face Possible prison time.