We audited the Virgin Islands Housing Finance Authority’s Non-Federal Match Program for Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds.  This Match Program was developed to assist non-Federal entities in paying for their share of projects that addressed unmet needs because of the 2017 Hurricanes Irma and Maria.  We initiated this audit due to the $415 million of CDBG-DR funds allocated by the Authority and to…

We audited the Virgin Islands Housing Finance Authority’s monitoring of its Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR)-funded activities.  We initiated the audit because of the large amount of CDBG-DR funds awarded to the U.S. Virgin Islands for the 2017 disasters and to aid in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) strategic objective to support effectiveness and accountability in long-term disaster…

An independent public accountant performed audits of the Willow Run (FHA no. 092-44100) and Willow Run II (FHA no. 092-35650) multifamily properties for the years 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008 under the name of The Blackwing Group, LLC.  According to the Minnesota Board of Accountancy, neither the independent public accountant nor The Blackwing Group, LLC, had ever been licensed to perform public accounting engagements in the State of…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General (OIG), assisted the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota in a civil investigation of Willow Run Partners L.P. and Willow Run II Partners L.P.  Willow Run Partners L.P. was the owner of Willow Run I Apartments, and Willow Run II Partners L.P. was the owner of Willow Run II Apartments.  Our investigation began as a result of a…

We audited the Virgin Islands Housing Authority’s Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program’s housing quality standards as part of the activities in our fiscal year 2015 audit plan.  We selected the Authority because it had a large program receiving more than $14 million in 2014. Our audit objective was to determine whether the Authority’s inspection process adequately ensured that its units complied with housing quality standards. The…

We audited Virgin Islands Community AIDS Resource & Education, Inc.’s (VICARE) Housing Opportunities for Persons With AIDS (HOPWA) program.  This audit was the result of a referral from the San Juan Office of Community Planning and Development.  The objective of the audit was to determine whether VICARE spent HOPWA funds in accordance with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requirements and for eligible…

We audited the State of Vermont, Department of Housing and Community Development’s disaster recovery programs.  We initiated this audit because of the significant funding awarded and the Boston Office of Community Planning and Development’s concerns about the State’s capacity to administer this funding.  Our audit objective was to determine whether the State administered its disaster recovery programs effectively and efficiently in…

In accordance with our goal to review and ensure the proper administration of Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) funds provided under the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (HERA) and/or the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), we conducted a capacity review of the operations of the State of Vermont’s (State) Agency of Commerce and Community Development (Agency), which has responsibility for administering the State…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Inspector General audited the Public Housing Agency of the City of Saint Paul’s (Agency) Section 8 Project-Based Voucher program (program). The audit was part of the activities in our fiscal year 2009 annual audit plan. We selected the Agency’s program based upon our internal audit survey of HUD’s oversight of the program and our analysis of risk factors relating to the…

St. Croix, VI – United States Attorney Delia L. Smith announced today that Department of Education Director of Maintenance, Davidson Charlemagne, 50, and his wife Sasha Charlemagne, 44, both of St. Croix, were arrested after a federal grand jury returned an indictment charging the pair with government program fraud, wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy. The indictment also charges former Virgin Islands Housing Finance Authority (“VIHFA”)…

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…

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…

St. Thomas, VI – Dozens of federal Inspector General officials gathered in St. Thomas on March 22-23, 2023, for the first Virgin Islands Office of Inspector General Spring Symposium. The federal oversight and law enforcement officials spent two days collaborating and sharing information as part of their ongoing commitment to protect federal funds awarded to the Virgin Islands. “As a result of Hurricanes Irma and Maria and the COVID-19 pandemic…

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…