CRA/LA agreed to pay $3.1 million to resolve allegations that its predecessor violated the False Claims Act by knowingly failing to comply with federal accessibility laws when it financed and assisted in the development of affordable housing in the City of Los Angeles supported by federal funds, the Department of Justice announced.   CRA/LA is the successor of the Community Redevelopment Agency of the City of Los Angeles, a local…

NEWARK, N.J. – An Essex County, New Jersey, man will be arraigned today on charges that he engaged in a conspiracy to commit mortgage fraud that resulted in potential losses in excess of $1 million, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced. Cabral Simpson, 43, of Belleville, New Jersey, appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Leda Dunn Wettre in Newark federal court. He is charged by indictment with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and…

NEWARK, N.J. – Two New Jersey men were today sentenced to prison terms for their respective roles in using phony monetary instruments to obtain luxury vehicles and other high value items; one of the defendants was additionally convicted of bankruptcy fraud, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced. Germaine Howard King, a/k/a “Germaine Howard,” 47, of Elizabeth, New Jersey, was sentenced to 70 months in prison, and Daniel D. Dxrams, currently…

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…

John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that ALLAN MANN, JR., also known as “Hailee Randolph DeSouza” and “Hailey R. DeSouza,” 67, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Janet C. Hall in New Haven to 18 months of imprisonment for receiving federal benefits while living in the U.S. under an assumed name for approximately 30 years. As alleged in court documents, Allan Mann, who is a Canadian citizen,…

United States Attorney Erica H. MacDonald today announced a felony information charging CLARISSA LYNN COMBS, 48, with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and false statements. COMBS will make her initial appearance in U.S. District Court at a later date. BRIDGIT YVETTE MICHAUD, 54, JALONDA LEEANN COMBS, 37, and AUDREY SEBILETTA HEATH, 34 were also charged via felony information with one count each of conspiracy to commit wire fraud for their roles…

ALBANY, NEW YORK – An indictment unsealed today charges former Prattsville Town Supervisor Kory O’Hara, age 42, and Prattsville resident Stephen Baker, age 68, with fraud relating to grants extended to Prattsville in the wake of Hurricane Irene.   The announcement was made by: United States Attorney Grant C. Jaquith; New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli; James N. Hendricks, Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field…

BOSTON – The principals and co-founders of a North Andover mortgage short sale assistance company were charged today in connection with defrauding mortgage lenders and investors out of nearly $500,000 in proceeds from about 90 short sale transactions. The defendants allegedly defrauded the Federal National Mortgage Association, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Gabriel T.…

HAMMOND- Sergio Garcia, Sr., 50, of Chicago, IL and Sergio Garcia, Jr., 30, of Lowell, IN were sentenced by US District Court Judge Philip Simon on their guilty pleas to conspiracy to commit mail fraud. Garcia, Sr. was sentenced to serve 70 months in prison followed by 2 years of supervised release and was ordered to pay $471,571.06 in restitution to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”) and $3,862 in restitution to other…

ROCHESTER, N.Y. - U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that a federal grand jury has returned a 28-count superseding indictment charging George H. Moses, 50, of Rochester, NY, with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft. The conspiracy and wire fraud charges carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, while the aggravated identity theft charge carries a mandatory…

The Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery program, House of Representatives Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development and Related Agencies (THUD). Jeremy Kirkland, Counsel to the Inspector General was a witness. Click here to watch.

ROCHESTER, N.Y. - U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that Adam C. McFadden pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Elizabeth A. Wolford to wire fraud. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. On April 1, 2019, McFadden previously pleaded guilty to unrelated wire and tax fraud charges. Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard A. Resnick, who is handling the case, stated that the defendant was the…

NEWARK, N.J. – A Hoboken, New Jersey, today man admitted his role in a conspiracy to promote a voter bribery scheme during a municipal election in Hoboken, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced. William Rojas, 69, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge William J. Martini in Newark federal court to an information charging him with conspiring with others to use the mail to promote a voter bribery scheme during the 2015 municipal election in…

Greenville, South Carolina - United States Attorney Sherri A. Lydon announced today that Dana Q. Roush, age 38, of Greenville, was found guilty of a conspiracy to commit mail fraud and equity skimming. A federal jury returned guilty verdicts late Wednesday evening after an hour and a half of deliberation. United States District Judge Timothy M. Cain of Anderson received the verdicts and will sentence Dana Roush and her husband Michael “…

BOSTON – An undocumented immigrant who refuses to disclose his true identity was sentenced today in federal court in Boston in connection with using another person’s identity for over 40 years and stealing public funds under the victim’s identity. “John Doe” was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Douglas P. Woodlock to three years in prison and three years of supervised release. One of the conditions of supervision is that Doe disclose his…

PROVIDENCE – A Rhode Island couple has pleaded guilty in federal court to charges they participated in a scheme that lasted more than twenty years to defraud the United States Government of hundreds of thousands of dollars in federally-funded benefits. Lens Chappell, a/k/a Carter Jefferson, 71, and his wife, Mulin Alexandre, a/k/a Kesa Pittman and later Kesa Jefferson, 40, of Providence, admitted they jointly participated in schemes to…

United States Attorney, Richard W. Moore, of the Southern District of Alabama announces that Tonya Lewis, a 39 year old resident of Selma, Alabama was charged in a two Count Indictment with Theft of Government Funds (Count One) and Aggravated Identity Theft (Count Two).  The Indictment alleges that Lewis stole approximately $95,689.44 from HUD that was entrusted to the Selma Housing Authority and that she stole the identity of another…

(Source: The Washington Post) The inspector general for the Department of Housing and Urban Development cleared Secretary Ben Carson of misconduct in the ordering of a $31,000 dining room set for his secretarial suite, according to a copy of the investigation obtained Thursday by The Washington Post. The investigation was launched more than a year ago following accusations that Carson had violated federal law in 2017 by ordering furniture…

Portland, Maine - United States Attorney Halsey B. Frank announced that Hussien Noor Hussien, 56, of Burlington, Vermont, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge George Z. Singal to two months in prison and three years of supervised release for impersonating another in a naturalization proceeding, procuring naturalization contrary to law and making a false statement on a passport application. In addition, the Court entered an order…

Real Estate Professionals Allegedly Conspired to Purchase Real Estate at Fraudulently Depressed Short Sale Prices, Costing Mortgage Loan Holders Millions of Dollars An indictment was unsealed today in federal court in Brooklyn charging Iskyo Aronov, Michael Konstantinovskiy, Tomer Dafna, Avraham Tarshish and Michael Herskowitz with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud, and related wire fraud counts, in connection with a scheme to…