As part of HUD OIG's strategic plan, an audit was conducted of HUD's Atlanta Office of Public and Indian Housing oversight of the Housing Authority of DeKalb County's compliance with its memorandum of agreement. The primary objective was to determine whether Public Housing adequately monitored the Authority's implementation of operating improvements required in the agreement. Specifically, the objective was to determine…

Attached is the final report on our audit of the Housing Authority of the City of Allentown (Authority), Allentown, Pennsylvania, Audit Report Number 2008-PH-1003, dated November 21, 2007. Our objectives were to determine whether the Authority calculated housing assistance payments accurately and properly maintained documentation in its tenant files for its Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program according to U.S. Department of Housing and…

Attached is the final report on our audit of the Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania, branch of National City Mortgage (branch office), Audit Report Number 2008-PH-1002, dated November 20, 2007. We selected the branch office because its default rate was above the state's default rate. Our objective was to determine whether the branch office complied with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) regulations, procedures, and…

PITTSBURGH, Pa. - Two residents of Brentwood, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty and were sentenced in federal court on January 15, 2025, on charges of making false statements on a loan application, United States Attorney Eric G. Olshan announced today.Husband and wife Brennan and Angela McNally each pleaded guilty before Senior United States District Judge Nora Barry Fischer to one count of making a false statement on a loan application. In separate…

ATLANTA - Kimberly Johnson has pleaded guilty for her role in a mortgage fraud scheme spanning more than three years and resulting in the approval of approximately 450 mortgage loans based on fabricated documents and false information. Many of the loans are insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), resulting in claims being paid for mortgages that have defaulted.“The defendant and her co-conspirators brazenly manipulated the real…

SAVANNAH, GA:  The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Georgia, the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and its Office of Inspector General (HUD OIG) hosted a Savannah roundtable for community members and organizations as part of the Justice Department’s Sexual Harassment in Housing Initiative.“Sexual harassment or abuse by a landlord is never acceptable,” said…

PHILADELPHIA – Landlord Allan R. Posner and his property management company ILJOR Properties, LLC, have agreed to pay $570,000 to resolve allegations that they violated the False Claims Act during their participation in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Housing Choice Voucher Program (HCVP), commonly known as “Section 8.”The HCVP is the federal government’s primary program for helping low-income families, the elderly, and…

SCRANTON- The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced today that Paul Helring, age 48, a former Scranton police officer and the former elected police union president, was sentenced on June 4, 2024, by United States District Court Judge Robert D. Mariani to 6 months’ imprisonment and a 2-year term of supervised release for the offense of Theft Concerning Programs Receiving Federal Funds.According to the…

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero announced that Norman D. Wise, 58, of Mullica Hill, NJ, Douglas E. Daniel, 65, of Philadelphia, PA, and Leonard F. Coleman, 54, of Paulsboro, NJ, were sentenced this week by United States District Court Judge Wendy Beetlestone on bribery and fraud charges related to two schemes: (1) a bribery scheme in which Coleman paid off Wise and Daniel in exchange for contracting work awarded to…

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero announced that Norman D. Wise, 58, of Mullica Hill, NJ, Douglas E. Daniel, 65, of Philadelphia, PA, and Leonard F. Coleman, 54, of Paulsboro, NJ, were sentenced this week by United States District Court Judge Wendy Beetlestone on bribery and fraud charges related to two schemes: (1) a bribery scheme in which Coleman paid off Wise and Daniel in exchange for contracting work awarded to…

The Justice Department announced today that Iraj Shambayati, a landlord who owns and manages over 45 residential properties in and around Savannah, Georgia, has agreed to pay $600,000 to resolve allegations that he violated the Fair Housing Act (FHA) by sexually harassing and retaliating against his female tenants for over 15 years.“No female tenant should have to endure sexual harassment and abuse in the sanctity of her own home,” said…

ATLANTA - Matthew Allen Dickason, a disbarred attorney who was previously licensed to practice law in the State of Georgia, has been sentenced to federal prison for embezzling more than $3 million from his clients. Dickason used the money for personal purposes and created phony accounting records to cover up his theft.                                   …

ATLANTA – U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Inspector General Rae Oliver Davis hosted a Safe Housing Summit on December 14, 2023, to promote health and safety for tenants living in HUD-assisted housing.“Our office is determined to address inequities in our district that exist in underserved communities who must heavily rely on HUD’s housing assistance programs,” said U.S. Attorney Buchanan…

MACON, Ga. – The former payroll clerk for the Milledgeville Housing Authority (MHA) has admitted she stole $575,000 by overpaying herself and entered a guilty plea in federal court today for her crime.Jennifer Kay Smith, 49, of Eatonton, Georgia, pleaded guilty to one count of federal program theft before U.S. District Senior Judge Marc Treadwell today. Smith faces a maximum sentence of ten years imprisonment to be followed by three years of…