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…

(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…

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…

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.