Natural disasters affect millions of Americans each year. Homeowners who experience a temporary or permanent loss of income due to a natural disaster or an increase in expenses post-disaster may be financially vulnerable, making it difficult for them to make mortgage payments.

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…

August 10, 2023, letter from Inspector General Oliver Davis in follow up to her June 2023 testimony about HUD’s progress in resolving HUD OIG recommendations.

CHICAGO — Three former board members of the failed Washington Federal Bank for Savings in Chicago have pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiring to falsify bank records to deceive the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. WILLIAM M. MAHON, 56, of Chicago, and GEORGE F. KOZDEMBA, 73, of Fort Myers, Fla., pleaded guilty to the conspiracy charge during a hearing Monday before U.S. District Judge Virginia M. Kendall.  Mahon’s guilty…

WASHINGTON – Nicole Freeman Smith, 51, of Upper Marlboro, Maryland, pleaded guilty today in Superior Court to one felony count and one misdemeanor count of financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult or elderly person (FEVA) for stealing more than $133,000 from two elderly District residents suffering from cognitive impairment. The plea was announced by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, D.C. Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb, and Special Agent…

SAN FRANCISCO - A federal grand jury in San Francisco indicted Gregory Finkelson with conspiracy, theft of government property, and money laundering, announced United States Attorney Ismail J. Ramsey, Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge Robert K. Tripp, United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) Special Agent in Charge Mark Kaminsky, and IRS-Criminal Investigation…

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…

Be on the lookout for fraudsters who may try to take advantage of quick timeframes and difficult circumstances that individuals and communities face following a disaster.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico –Today, United States District Court Judge Camille Vélez Rivé sentenced Walter Pierluisi Isern, Eduardo Pierluisi Isern, and American Management and Administration Corporation (AMAC). The defendants pleaded guilty in April to one count of Theft of Federal Program Funds in relation to the misappropriation of operational funds provided by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for the…

BENTON, Ill. – A U.S. district judge sentenced the former executive director of the Jefferson County Housing Authority to spend 10 months in federal prison after he converted more than $20,000 in authority funds for personal expenses. In addition to the prison sentence, Thomas J. Upchurch, 53, now of Rio Rancho, New Mexico, was ordered to pay $20,150 in restitution back to the housing authority, and he will serve one year of supervised…

ALBANY, NEW YORK – Movement Mortgage, LLC, has agreed to pay the United States $23.75 million to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act  by failing to comply with 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 guaranteed by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), United States Attorney…

Written Testimony of Inspector General Rae Oliver Davis, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development before the U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Financial Services, Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance: “HUD Oversight: Testimony of the HUD Inspector General” Hearing Video

WASHINGTON DC— Today, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued two audit reports examining the loss mitigation options that loan servicers provided to borrowers with Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-insured loans after their COVID-19 forbearance ended.  The first report broadly examined whether servicers of FHA loans provided proper loss mitigation assistance to homeowners…

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – On June 8, 2023, a federal grand jury in the District of Puerto Rico returned an indictment charging 40 violent gang members from the municipality of San Juan with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, possession and distribution of controlled substances, and firearms violations, announced W. Stephen Muldrow, United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico. This investigation was led by the FBI…

WASHINGTON DC— Today, the U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued an audit report about HUD’s Real Estate Assessment Center’s (REAC) process for inspecting the physical conditions of public housing units.  HUD ensures that affordable housing communities are safe and up to code by having HUD contractors periodically inspect properties receiving assistance through HUD’s public housing program, using…

WASHINGTON DC— Today, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued a management alert that recommends HUD take additional steps to protect contractor employees from retaliation for blowing the whistle on wrongdoing.   As a result of several recent investigations, HUD OIG learned that employees of thousands of contractors who receive funds from HUD may not be protected against…

Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that MICHAEL DiMASSA, 32, of West Haven, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Omar A. Williams in Hartford to 27 months of imprisonment, followed five years of supervised release, for his involvement in schemes that resulted in the theft of more than $1.2 million dollars in COVID relief funds and other funds from the City of West Haven.  Judge…

WASHINGTON DC— Today, the U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued an audit report about HUD’s Real Estate Assessment Center’s (REAC) process for inspecting the physical conditions of public housing units. REAC provides HUD staff and program participants with information about HUD’s affordable housing portfolio by assessing different aspects of public and multifamily housing properties, including, among…

Orlando, Florida – United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces that Oliver Barrington King (44, Deland) has pleaded guilty to theft of government funds. King faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison. In addition, King has agreed to forfeit $16,618.91, the amount he obtained as a result of the offense. A sentencing date has not yet been scheduled. According to the plea agreement, King was the property manager for an apartment…

BOSTON – A Maine woman pleaded guilty yesterday to stealing federal housing benefits from at least December 2004 through February 2020.  Rebecca Amelia Cranford, 63, pleaded guilty to one count of theft of government funds. U.S. District Court Chief Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV scheduled sentencing for Aug. 17, 2023. Cranford was arrested and charged in September 2021.   In the early 2000s, Cranford was engaged by the owners of a…