CINCINNATI – A Cincinnati tenant is charged with federal crimes related to making false statements accusing her landlord of violating the Fair Housing Act. Dermisha Pickett, 33, allegedly fabricated messages from her landlord stating the landlord did not want Black tenants. Pickett appeared in federal court in Cincinnati yesterday after self-surrendering. Her case was unsealed today. “False reports to law enforcement, as alleged in this case,…

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The former director of a local Islamic center was sentenced in U.S. District Court today to four months in prison then four months in a halfway house followed by 12 months of home confinement for embezzling funds from the mosque, defrauding public housing, and filing for fraudulent COVID assistance funds. Ahmed A. Sh. Ahmed, 44, of Gahanna, pleaded guilty in October 2022 to committing wire fraud, submitting a false statement…

DAYTON, Ohio – A Tipp City man was sentenced in U.S. District Court today to 18 months in prison for defrauding a local non-profit organization. He was also ordered to pay $94,942 in restitution. Antoine Draines, 43, defrauded Miami Valley Community Action Partnership (MVCAP) of rental assistance funds. MVCAP received federal funding as part of the CARES Act. According to court documents, Draines controlled and operated Freedom for Living…

CLEVELAND  – Diane A. Mason, 52, of Cleveland, Ohio, was sentenced on Jan. 4, 2023, to two years in prison by U.S. District Judge Patricia A. Gaughan after she pleaded guilty to aggravated identity theft.  According to court documents, between January 2017 and October 2020, Mason stole $72,476 in Social Security Retirement Insurance benefits and $40,143.60 in monthly pension benefits from the Xerox Corporation, which were…

PROVIDENCE – A North Providence woman convicted of defrauding multiple publicly-funded programs was sentenced on Tuesday to eighteen months in federal prison for making false statements when applying for a Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-backed mortgage, a Small Business Association (SBA) loan, and for fraudulently applying for government-funded COVID unemployment benefits, announced United States Attorney Zachary A. Cunha. In March 2022,…

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The former director of a local Islamic center pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court today to embezzling funds from the mosque, defrauding public housing, and filing for fraudulent COVID assistance funds. Ahmed A. Sh. Ahmed, 43, of Gahanna, admitted in federal court today to committing wire fraud, submitting a false statement and making a false statement. According to court documents, from at least 2009 until March 2019, Ahmed…

PROVIDENCE – A North Providence woman today admitted in federal court that she provided false information to a mortgage lender when applying for a Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-backed mortgage, and that she fraudulently applied for a COVID Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) and unemployment insurance benefits under both the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) and the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act…

PROVIDENCE – A former bookkeeper/office manager who admitted to embezzling more than $740,000 from a Rhode Island law firm that employed her, fraudulently collecting nearly $20,000 in temporary disability insurance payments, and filing fraudulent documents when applying for a mortgage from a Rhode Island bank, was sentenced today to five years in federal prison. According to court documents, Sarah Gaulin, 39, a former employee of the law firm…

PROVIDENCE – A Johnston-based real estate investment firm, the company’s founder, and a person who held himself out to be a negotiator on behalf of financially distressed homeowners but who was, in reality, associated with the real estate investment firm, have been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges they participated in a series of schemes to defraud homeowners and financial institutions. It is alleged in the indictment that members of…

Acting United States Attorney Bridget M. Brennan announced today that sitting Cleveland City Council member Kenneth JOHNSON, age 74, of Cleveland, was arrested this morning by law enforcement agents with the Cleveland Division of the FBI after a federal grand jury handed down a fifteen-count indictment charging JOHNSON with violations related to federal program theft. Two additional defendants were also charged in the indictment. “The…

U.S. Attorney Justin Herdman announced today that Tamiko Parker, 47, of Cleveland was sentenced by Judge Dan Aaron Polster to 33 months in prison and ordered to pay $164,120.30 in restitution after Parker pleaded guilty to theft concerning programs receiving federal funds. “This defendant was put in a position of public trust, charged with helping to lead a neighborhood to further prosperity,” said U.S. Attorney Justin Herdman. “Instead of…

U.S. Attorney Justin Herdman announced today that Eric Witherspoon, 56, of Warrensville Heights, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Christopher A. Boyko to 15 months in prison and ordered to pay a $5,000 fine after Witherspoon pleaded guilty to bribery in federally funded programs. “Public contracts should go to the most qualified, not the best connected,” said U.S. Attorney Justin Herdman. “Public officials, contractors, or anyone else…

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…

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The mastermind of a mortgage fraud scheme that defrauded financially distressed homeowners, investors, and financial institutions of nearly $1.5 million dollars was sentenced today to more than 13 years in federal prison. Hasan Hussain, 57, of Princeton, N.J., masterminded a scheme that defrauded distressed homeowners, investors, and financial institutions of fees, rental income, mortgage payment funds, property ownership and…