We completed an audit of the Fayette County Housing Authority's Section 8 Housing Program. The objective of our audit was to determine whether the Housing Authority operated its Section 8 Program in an efficient and effective manner and provided decent, safe and sanitary housing to its Section 8 tenants in compliance with HUD's requirements. We performed the audit in response to a request from HUD's Public Housing Program Center Coordinator,…

We completed an audit of the Coshocton Metropolitan Housing Authority's Public Housing Program. The review of the Housing Authority's Public Housing Program was conducted as part of a comprehensive review of the Authority. The comprehensive review was performed based upon a request from HUD's Columbus Field Office Coordinator of Public Housing Program Center. The objectives of the audit were to: (1) determine whether the Housing Authority had…

We completed an audit of the Coshocton Metropolitan Housing Authority's Comprehensive Improvement Assistance Program for Fiscal Years 1997, 1998, and 1999. The audit of the Housing Authority's Program was conducted as part of a comprehensive review of the Authority. The comprehensive review was performed based upon a request from HUD's Columbus Field Office Coordinator of Public Housing Program Center. The objectives of the audit were to: (1)…

We completed an audit of the Philadelphia Regional Alliance of HUD Tenants $310,000 Outreach and Training Assistance Grant and a $20,000 Public Entity Grant (a Section 514 grant received from an Intermediary Technical Assistance Grant). The objectives of the review were to determine if the Philadelphia Regional Alliance of HUD Tenants used Section 514 grant funds for only eligible activities as identified in the Multifamily Assisted Housing…

We performed a nationwide audit of the Asset Control Area Program to assess the effectiveness of the Program in meeting its objective of expanded homeownership opportunities in revitalization areas. The audit included reviews at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Single Family Housing in Headquarters, and HUD's Philadelphia and Santa Ana Homeownership Centers (HOC. Also, it included an onsite review of three Local…

HUD became aware of the financial problems of HACC when the staff of the Office of Public Housing, Pennsylvania State Office, met with representatives of HACC on October 2, 2000.  HACC requested the meeting to discuss its declining Public Housing and Section 8 reserves and a shortfall in Hope VI funds. A HUD technical review was performed in October 2000 and the results were discussed with the HACC on November 20, 2000. At that time HACC…

We completed an audit of the Housing Authority of the City of Miami Beach, Florida (HACMB). We conducted the audit pursuant to a request by your office dated July 9, 1999. This report contains four findings that require follow-up action by your office to ensure HACMB implements appropriate corrective action. Within 60 days please give us a status report, for each recommendation in this report, on: (1) the corrective action taken; (2) the…

We have completed an audit of the Puerto Rico Public Housing Administration's (PHA) management of its central office procurement system. We conducted the audit in response to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) officials and our ongoing concerns regarding the Puerto Rico Public Housing Administration's financial management systems. Our audit objectives were to determine whether the PHA administered its activities in compliance…

Leonard C Boyle, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that ALICIA GARDNER, 51, of Griswold, waived her right to be indicted and pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Victor A. Bolden in Bridgeport to embezzling money from federally subsidized housing complexes that she had managed. According to court documents and statements made in court, Gardner was employed by Garden Homes Management Corporation…

The owner of hundreds of rental units scattered across 18 residential properties in Elizabeth has been arrested and criminally charged with coercing more than a dozen of his tenants into sexual acts in exchange for financial relief, acting Union County Prosecutor Lyndsay V. Ruotolo and Elizabeth Police Department Chief Giacomo Sacca and Director Earl Graves jointly announced Monday. Joseph Centanni, 73, of Mountainside is charged with eight…

Defendants Allegedly Engaged in a Scheme to Purchase Real Estate at Fraudulently Depressed Short Sale Prices Resulting in Millions of Dollars in False Claims Submitted to HUD’s FHA Mortgage Insurance Program The United States has filed a civil complaint in federal court in Brooklyn seeking damages and penalties against three individuals and multiple companies alleged to have engaged in a wide-ranging mortgage fraud scheme to defraud the…

WASHINGTON – Guild Mortgage Company has agreed to pay the United States $24.9 million to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act and the common law by knowingly breaching material program requirements when it originated and underwrote mortgages insured by the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Federal Housing Administration (FHA), the Department of Justice announced today.  Guild Mortgage Company is…

ALBANY, NEW YORK – Guaranteed Rate, Inc. has agreed to pay the United States $15.06 million to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act and the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act of 1989 (FIRREA) by knowingly violating material program requirements when it originated and underwrote mortgages insured by the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Federal Housing Administration (FHA) or…

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A former government official agreed to pay $25,000 to resolve allegations that he had an improper conflict of interest with a company while he served as the Director of the Quality Assurance Division in the Office of Lender Activities and Program Compliance within the Federal Housing Administration at the United States Office of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The United States alleges that Justin Burch, of Arlington, had…

NEWARK, N.J. – A Hudson County, New Jersey, woman was arrested today for allegedly embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars from a non-profit corporation dedicated to providing affordable housing to residents of Englewood, New Jersey, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced. Yezenia Castillo, 44, of Hoboken, New Jersey, is charged by complaint with four counts of wire fraud. She is scheduled to appear this afternoon before U.S. Magistrate…

Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that JACQUELINE GRAHAM was sentenced today to 132 months in prison in connection with a $38 million fraudulent mortgage debt elimination scheme.  GRAHAM previously was convicted in June 2019 after a two-week trial before U.S. District Judge Nelson S. Román, who also imposed today’s sentence. Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said:…

BOSTON – The principal and co-founder of a North Andover mortgage short sale assistance company was sentenced yesterday in connection with defrauding mortgage lenders and investors out of nearly $500,000 in proceeds from about 90 short sale transactions. Jaime L. Mulvihill, 40, was sentenced by U.S. Senior District Court Judge Rya W. Zobel to six months in prison, two years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of…

This week, a Toledo federal jury convicted Arvel Ray Henderson, II, age 50, on one count of theft of public money, one count of concealment of bankruptcy assets, and one count of bankruptcy fraud.  Henderson is scheduled to be sentenced on December 20, 2019. Henderson, who was enrolled as a Section 8 landlord with the Lucas County Metropolitan Housing Authority (LMHA), leased several Section 8-eligible properties in the Toledo area, one of…

John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that ALLAN MANN, JR., also known as “Hailee Randolph DeSouza” and “Hailey R. DeSouza,” 67, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Janet C. Hall in New Haven to 18 months of imprisonment for receiving federal benefits while living in the U.S. under an assumed name for approximately 30 years. As alleged in court documents, Allan Mann, who is a Canadian citizen,…

United States Attorney Erica H. MacDonald today announced a felony information charging CLARISSA LYNN COMBS, 48, with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and false statements. COMBS will make her initial appearance in U.S. District Court at a later date. BRIDGIT YVETTE MICHAUD, 54, JALONDA LEEANN COMBS, 37, and AUDREY SEBILETTA HEATH, 34 were also charged via felony information with one count each of conspiracy to commit wire fraud for their roles…