In response to a request from the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), we audited Cypress Ridge Apartments' use of HUD-insured mortgage loan proceeds and property operating funds governed by a regulatory agreement. William Commercial Property Management (agent) was the management agent and general contractor for the multifamily rehabilitation project under taken with funding insured under Section 221 (d)(4) of the…

In response to requests from the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and Senator James Inhofe, we audited the property owner's application and the loan processing and underwriting of the HUD-insured mortgage loan to Greystone Apartments, Inc., for Cypress Ridge Apartments. Harry Mortgage Company, the lender, processed and recommended loan approval under the multifamily accelerated processing (MAP) program. The audit…

We audited the City of Tulsa's (City) Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program due to a departmental request. Our initial objective was to determine whether the City expended CDBG funds in accordance with U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) rules and regulations. Based upon the initial results, we modified the objective to determine whether the City ensured that its largest subrecipient, the Tulsa Development…

At the request of HUD, we audited Green River Management, Inc., (Green River) which managed the Housing Authorities of the City of Konawa, City of Langston, City of Pauls Valley, City of Wynnewood, Town of Cheyenne, and Caddo Electric Cooperative. Our objective was to determine whether the housing authorities appropriately procured Green River as their management agent, maintained properties, and carried out their financial responsibilities in…

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Two Nigerian nationals have been sentenced to prison, probation, and owe over $500,000 in restitution for stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from victims in romance fraud schemes, announced United States Attorney Andrew M. Luger. According to court documents, beginning in 2016 through 2019, Charles Emeka Obije, 41, used fictitious identities to contact victims throughout the United States, including Minnesota, via email…

OKLAHOMA CITY – Earlier this week, a criminal indictment was unsealed charging six Oklahoma residents with fraudulently obtaining nearly $1 million in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans, announced U.S. Attorney Robert J. Troester. On August 16, 2023, a federal grand jury returned a sealed, 28-count indictment against MARQUITA DESHAWN SHAW, 39, and AMIE STREET, 39, both of Lawton, Oklahoma, and COREY DONTA SHAW, 40, ERIC…

MINNEAPOLIS – An Albert Lea woman has been sentenced to a year and one day in prison, three years of supervised release, and is required to pay $213,217 in restitution for stealing public housing rent payments, announced U.S. Attorney Andrew M. Luger. According to court documents, between January 2010 and July 18, 2018, Marcie Marie Thumann, 45, worked as a bookkeeper for the Albert Lea Housing and Redevelopment Authority (HRA), a government…

Charley Rember, Jr.,52, former Executive Director of Madill Housing Authority in Madill, Oklahoma, was sentenced on January 26, 2022, to 8 years in prison (2 years suspended) and ordered to pay more than $477,000 in restitution and fines for embezzlement of over $450,000 of government money to support his gambling habit. The sentencing was announced by Judge Wallace Coppedge, District Court of Marshall County, Oklahoma. The case was…

MINNEAPOLIS – The Justice Department today announced that it has obtained a consent decree with Reese Pfeiffer and several other defendants to resolve allegations that Pfeiffer violated the Fair Housing Act (FHA) by subjecting 23 women to severe and repeated sexual harassment and retaliation at residential properties defendants own or manage in and around Minneapolis. Under the consent decree, the defendants must pay a total of $736,000 in…