(Source: cleveland.com) CLEVELAND, Ohio — A Warrensville Heights contractor admitted in court Monday that he bribed a city of Cleveland official to get favorable treatment for a demolition job. Eric Witherspoon pleaded guilty to bribery concerning a federally funded program. He acknowledged that he gave a $3,000 bribe to the city’s former demolition bureau chief Rufus Taylor. Witherspoon sobbed and gave quiet remarks Monday as U.S. Magistrate…

HONOLULU – A federal jury today found Chun Mei Tong, also known as Mei Tong, 43, of Honolulu, guilty of five counts of wire fraud and three counts of aggravated identity theft for her scheme to use an alias and forge signatures to rent out properties under the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development ("HUD") Housing Choice Voucher Program (also known as the "Section 8 Program") while she was also a HUD employee involved in overseeing the…

Former Chief Financial Officer and Head Trader Have Each Pled Guilty and Are Cooperating With the Government Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and William F. Sweeney Jr., the Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), announced today the arrest of MICHAEL HILD, the founder, former chief executive officer, and controlling…

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,” 66, pleaded guilty today in New Haven federal court to a false statement offense related to his living in the U.S. under an assumed name for approximately 30 years. As alleged in court documents, Allan Mann abducted his 21-month-old son, Jermaine Allan Mann, on June 24, 1987,…

McALLEN, Texas – A La Joya Housing Authority Board member has been arrested on charges of federal program bribery regarding a city public relations contract, announced U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Patrick. Sylvia Garces Valdez was taken into custody yesterday after which she made her initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Peter Ormsby. She is set for trial Oct. 8, 2019. According to the indictment, from June to approximately November 2018,…

Ariana Fajardo Orshan, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Teri Donaldson, Inspector General, U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Inspector General (DOE-OIG), Nadine Gurley, Special Agent in Charge of the Southeast Caribbean Region, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Office of Inspector General (HUD-OIG), and Scott McInerney, Director, Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE), Office of Executive Investigations…

John H. Durham. United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that STEVEN F. HARVIN, 54, of New Haven, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Michael P. Shea in Hartford to three years of probation, the first 60 days of which Harvin must serve in home confinement, for stealing from a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”) program.  Judge Shea also ordered Harvin to perform 50 hours of community…

BOSTON – A Dominican national was sentenced today in federal court in Boston for false representation of a Social Security number and theft of public money.      Noemi Mejia, 51, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton to one year and one day in prison, two years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $164,987 in restitution. Mejia will be subject to deportation upon completion of her sentence. In…

(Source: Newsday.com)The Long Island mortgage executive who pleaded guilty to bank fraud in the implosion of a $1-billion-a-year lender that led to more than $49 million in losses was sentenced Wednesday to 3 years in prison. Michael Ashley, 53, of Plainview, also was ordered by Judge Joseph Bianco in federal court in Central Islip to pay $49 million in restitution and forfeit $800,000. Ashley has already forfeited that full amount, the judge…

On Thursday, July 18, U.S. Attorney for the Virgin Islands Gretchen C.F. Shappert will kick off a two-day training session for HUD Community Development and Block Grant – Disaster Recovery grantees, sub-grantees and contractors, and law enforcement agencies. The training is being hosted in conjunction with the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Inspector General (HUD OIG). It will include presentations from staff from…

SOUTH BEND – Phillip Yoder, age 41, of Ligonier, Indiana, was sentenced before United States District Court Judge Jon E. DeGuilio on his guilty pleas to wire fraud, bank fraud, mail fraud and bankruptcy fraud, announced U.S. Attorney Kirsch.  Yoder was sentenced to serve 87 months each on the mail fraud, bank fraud, and mail fraud counts, and 60 months on the bankruptcy fraud count, all to run concurrently.   Yoder also was…

(Source: Cleveland.com) CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - The alleged mastermind involved in scamming hundreds of thousands of dollars from mothers nationwide changed her plea Monday morning. Zienup Sbeih-Maddox’s plea change to guilty comes on the day her trial was scheduled to begin in the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas. As part of the plea deal, prosecutors recommend that Sbeih-Maddox serves six years in prison. She would also be ordered to…

CAMDEN, N.J. – A Camden woman today admitted accessing a protected computer without authorization to steal money from her employer and then laundering the proceeds of her theft, U.S Attorney Craig Carpenito announced. Dilcia Mercedes 38, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Renee Marie Bumb to an information charging her with one count of unauthorized access of a computer with intent to defraud and one count of money laundering. According…

NEWARK, N.J. – A former candidate for the Hoboken City Council was convicted today of conspiring to promote a voter bribery scheme by use of the mail, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.  Francis Raia, 67, of Hoboken, New Jersey, was a candidate for Hoboken City Council in 2013. He was convicted of one count of conspiracy to violate the federal Travel Act for causing the mails to be used in aid of voter bribery, contrary to New Jersey…

NEWARK, N.J. – Two individuals were found guilty today 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,” 43, of Elizabeth, New Jersey, was convicted for his role in a scheme to defraud banks and…

The Inspector General Act of 1978 requires the Inspector General to prepare semiannual reports summarizing the activities of the Office of Inspector General for the preceding six -month periods. The semiannual reports are intended to keep the Secretary and the Congress fully informed of significant findings, progress the Agency has made and recommendations for improvement.

Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that JACQUELINE GRAHAM was convicted at trial on Wednesday, June 12, 2019, of participating in a conspiracy to commit bank fraud, wire fraud, and mail fraud in connection with a fraudulent debt-elimination scheme to defraud homeowners and banks.  GRAHAM was found guilty of the one count she faced after a two-week trial before U.S. District Judge…

Pacific Medical Buildings LLC (PMB), PMB Lakeway LLC, RD Development Partners LLC, Lakeway Management LLC, J&L Rush Family Partnership LP, Jeff Rush, and Brad Daniel have agreed to pay the United States $1.1 million to resolve allegations that they violated the False Claims Act by improperly helping to obtain a loan insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and receiving impermissible distributions of project funds for the…

SYRACUSE, NEW YORK – Timothy J. Oravec, age 60, formerly an employee at the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in Albany, New York, was sentenced yesterday afternoon to serve four months imprisonment and three years of supervised release by Senior United States District Judge Frederick J. Scullin, Jr. for committing wire fraud as part of a scheme to defraud the United States and HUD employees by falsely claiming that…

BOSTON – A Roxbury man identified as John Doe was convicted yesterday by a federal jury in Boston of using another person’s identity for over 40 years. John Doe, whose true identity is unknown, was convicted of aggravated identity theft; using a passport obtained through false statements; stealing public funds; and misuse of a Social Security number. U.S. District Court Judge Douglas P. Woodlock scheduled sentencing for Sept. 18, 2019. At some…