More than $37 million in monthly housing subsidies for needy people ended up in the wrong hands last year because the Department of Housing and Urban Development doesn't know how to verify who's eligible for its program. The housing subsidies are intended for low-income people who meet the "community service and self-sufficiency requirement" or CSSR. To qualify, you must be between 18 and 62 and log a minimum of eight hours of community service…

PHILADELPHIA – Walter Alston Brown, 47, of Providence Forge, Virginia, and Glen Allen, Virginia, and Cynthia Evette Brown, 53, of Philadelphia, PA, were each sentenced today to 180 months in prison for their roles in a multi-million dollar mortgage fraud scheme.  Walter Brown was a mortgage broker with First Horizon Home Loans, Foxworth Inc., Carteret Mortgage, and Advantage Lending and was one of the four owners of KREW Settlement…

Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that DAVID J. BERTNAGEL, 41, of Thomaston, waived his right to indictment and pleaded guilty today in Bridgeport federal court to theft and tax charges stemming from his embezzlement of more than $800,000 from the Town of Plymouth. According to court documents and statements made in court, from October 2011 through October 2014, BERTNAGEL was employed as the…

BOSTON – The facilities director of two non-profits which provide support services for developmentally disabled adults and their families was sentenced today in connection with soliciting bribes. Charles Feeney, 60, of Billerica, was sentenced by U.S. Senior District Judge Mark L. Wolf to six months in prison, three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $142,927 in restitution.  In May 2012, Feeney pleaded guilty to two counts of…

Prosecutors unsealed an eight-count indictment Tuesday against the executive director of the City of Hidalgo Housing Authority and her former secretary, charging them with bribery. A federal grand jury indicted Susana Munguia, 61, of Hidalgo, who headed the Housing Authority — an independent, federally funded agency — for 25 years; and her secretary, Lubina Pedraza, 53, of Hidalgo. Prosecutors detailed the allegations against Munguia and…

MCALLEN, TX—Susana Munguia, 61, and Lubina Pedraza, 54, both of Hidalgo, have been arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit bribery and embezzlement and several counts of bribery, announced U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson. Munguia and Pedraza were former officials with the City of Hidalgo Housing Authority who worked directly with the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Housing Choice Voucher Program (HCVP). Munguia was the…

BEAVER -- Beaver County might need to repay more than $500,000 if it can’t properly document how housing money was used, according to a federal audit.  Additionally, a county-paid lawyer might have had a conflict of interest, the audit report from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Office of Inspector General states. Beaver County officials didn’t have adequate documentation for $519,284 in federal HOME money regarding…

Testimony of The Honorable David A. Montoya, Inspector General before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services. Topic: “Exploring Alleged Ethical and Legal Violations at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development"

NEWARK, NJ—A former contractor of the Newark Watershed Conservation and Development Corporation (NWCDC) today admitted his role in a bribery and kickback scheme involving an employee and consultant of the NWCDC, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced. James Porter, 78, of East Orange, New Jersey, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Jose L. Linares to an information charging him with one count of conspiring with Donald Bernard Sr., a…

To hear the FBI talk, former Dunkirk Mayor Richard L. Frey owes a substantial amount of credit card debt. Even more important, perhaps, Frey’s debt stems from cash withdrawals at an ATM in a nearby casino, investigators say. Frey’s personal finances are detailed in a federal indictment accusing him of cashing in campaign contributions from local businesspeople and using them for personal benefit. The contributions range from a low of $500 to a…

TRENTON, N.J. – The developer of three Trenton affordable housing projects was sentenced today to 27 months in prison for making false statements to a financial institution to divert project money for personal and other unauthorized purposes, and to conducting a transaction with the proceeds of this crime, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced. Robert Kahan, 69, of Sunny Isles Beach, Florida, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District…

Bangor, Maine:  United States Attorney Thomas E. Delahanty II announced that Craig Sanborn, age 64, of Maidstone, Vermont, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court by Judge John A. Woodcock, Jr. to 28 months in prison for wire fraud. He was also ordered to pay $300,000 in restitution, a $7,500 fine and to serve three years of supervised release. The sentence is to be served consecutively to two 10-year sentences Sanborn is currently…

The Dutchess County developer who launched Vineyard Commons in Highland but later declared bankruptcy will be arraigned in federal district court in White Plains today, Tuesday, according to U.S. Attorney's Office spokesman Herbert Hadad. Michael Barnett of Hopewell Junction is accused by federal prosecutors of taking kickbacks and inflating invoices as part of a scheme to fraudulently obtain loans insured by the U.S. Department of Housing…

NEW HAVEN, CT—A property manager and real estate agent was sentenced today to 22 months in prison for his role in a mortgage fraud scheme arising from the purchases of more than 40 properties in New Haven, New Jersey U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced today. Menachem Yosef Levitin (a/k/a Joseph), 29, of New Haven, pleaded guilty before Chief U.S. District Judge Janet C. Hall on July 5, 2012, to an information charging him with conspiracy…

NEWARK, N.J. – Five people involved in an extensive scheme to obtain millions of dollars through fraudulently obtained tax refund checks issued by the U.S. Treasury pleaded guilty today in Newark federal court, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced. Julio C. Concepcion 49, of Passaic, New Jersey, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Kevin McNulty to an information charging him with one count of conspiracy to steal government funds and…

NEWARK, N.J. – The owner of a Guttenberg, New Jersey, contracting company today admitted rigging the selection process for projects run by the Union City Community Development Agency (UCCDA), causing losses of at least $120,000, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced. Leovaldo Fundora, 53, of Guttenberg, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge William H. Walls in Newark federal court to an information charging him with one count of…

PHILADELPHIA - The United States Attorney's Office announced today that Bellante Properties, of Lehigh County, PA, and its owners Vincent Fantozzi and Bernard Fantozzi, will pay the government $19,120 to resolve allegations surrounding federally-funded rental assistance payments it received. According to a civil complaint, Bellante Properties received rent subsidy payments from the Lehigh County Housing Authority while unlawfully requiring a…

COLUMBUS – Wendy Harper, 44, of Columbus, Ohio was sentenced in U.S. District Court to 24 months in prison, three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution in the amounts of $588,121.46 to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for embezzling HUD program funds from her employer, and $126,345.36 to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for filing a false federal income tax return. Carter M. Stewart, U.S.…

STATESVILLE, N.C. B Roger Dean Bailey, Jr., 41, or Hickory, N.C. was sentenced to 30 months in prison today for his role in a mortgage and consumer fraud conspiracy involving manufactured and modular homes, announced Anne M. Tompkins, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. U.S. District Judge Richard L. Voorhees also ordered Bailey to serve two years under court supervision and to pay restitution, the amount of which will be…