Greenbelt, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Peter J. Messitte sentenced Shola Risikat Balogun, age 48, of Upper Marlboro, today to 37 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for conspiring to commit wire fraud in connection with a mortgage fraud scheme that she organized and managed which resulted in over $1.352 million of actual losses to mortgage lenders.  Judge Messitte also entered an order that Balogun pay…

WASHINGTON –   Edward Dacy, 76, of West Melbourne, Fla., and A. Conrad Austin, 49, of Bowie, Md., have been indicted on conspiracy, bank fraud, and other federal charges stemming from a multi-million dollar mortgage fraud scheme in which they are accused of assisting their co-conspirators to defraud banks and mortgage lenders through the purchase of residential real estate in the District of Columbia and Maryland. The…

TRENTON — Four more New Jersey residents were accused today of lying on applications for federal relief funds in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy to obtain more than $161,000, state authorities said, bringing the total number of those charged since March to a dozen. Mary Conlin, 51, of West Chester, Pa., allegedly claimed her home in Manahawkin was her primary residence, when in fact it was a vacation home. She was approved for a $145,900 small…

A former city of Dallas employee who admitted to hindering a federal investigation and trading housing for sex, among other things, will spend 15 months behind bars, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office this morning. Lawrence Hart has also been ordered to pay back $8,619. From 2012 until last year, Hart worked for the city’s Housing Department as a caseworker for Project Reconnect, which uses federal dollars to help the formerly incarcerated…

LAFAYETTE — A former employee of the Opelousas Housing Authority was sentenced to two years of probation Friday in a federal investigation of bid-rigging that also snagged the former director and a local contractor. Garnette L. Thomas, 76, the Housing Authority’s former grant and capital funds coordinator, pleaded guilty last year to fraud charges. Thomas faced 10 to 16 months in prison under federal sentencing guidelines, but U.S. District…

The White Mountain Apache Housing Authority misspent millions of federal dollars on entertainment, gift certificates and other improper items, and is so badly managed it should be considered for receivership, according to a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development audit released this week. A HUD Office of Inspector General report issued Tuesday also says the agency's Southwest Office of Native American Programs should order the tribal…

U.S. Attorney’s Office District of New Mexico Press Release ALBUQUERQUE—Two men from Gallup, N.M., pleaded guilty today to federal charges arising out of a scheme to defraud the United States and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) of more than $100,000. The guilty pleas were announced by U.S. Attorney Damon P. Martinez, Phyllis Robinson, Special Agent in Charge of Region 6, HUD Office of Inspector General, and Carol K.O…

Jonathan Pinson, once chairman of the board of S.C. State University and a high-flying businessman known for multi-million-dollar development projects, was given a new label Thursday by a federal jury: racketeer. The jury found the Greenville businessman guilty on 29 of 45 felony counts and acquitted him on 16. He did not testify during the trial, which began June 16. The government had spent three years in investigating and bringing the case…

U.S. Attorney’s Office Eastern District of Louisiana Press Release United States Attorney Kenneth Allen Polite, Jr. announced that STACEY JACKSON, age 47, a resident of New Orleans, Louisiana, pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Mary Ann Vial Lemmon to conspiracy to steal federal funds and demand kickbacks from a program receiving federal funds. According to court documents, JACKSON, the former Executive Director of New Orleans…

  Testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Government Operations Topic: “Evaluating Public Housing in the U.S.: Reigning in Waste, Fraud, Abuse and Mismanagement at Public Housing Authorities."  

Testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations. Investigation of HUD Lobbying Activities February 26, 2014 - 10:00 a.m., Rayburn House Office Building, Room 2128

This is a USAO District of Maryland Press Release Greenbelt, Maryland – Mokorya Cosmas Wambura, age 45, of Takoma Park, Maryland pleaded guilty today to conspiring to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft arising from two separate residential mortgage fraud schemes. The plea agreement was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Cary A. Rubenstein of the Housing and…

USAO Southern District of Ohio Press Release COLUMBUS – Wendy Harper, 44, Columbus, Ohio pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to embezzling HUD program funds from her employer, Harvest Management Group, Inc, which manages more than 900 units for elderly and disabled people who qualify for HUD assistance. She also pleaded guilty to filing a false income tax return. Carter M. Stewart, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, Barry…

COLUMBUS, Ohio - A Columbus woman pleaded guilty to embezzling HUD program funds, and filing a false income tax return Thursday. Wendy Harper, 44, Columbus, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to embezzling HUD program funds from her employer, Harvest Management Group, Inc, which manages more than 900 units for elderly and disabled people who qualify for HUD assistance. She also pleaded guilty to filing a false income tax return. According to…

NEWARK — The former executive director of an East Orange-based non-profit developer of low-income housing was arrested today on charges she had embezzled more than $380,000 from the corporation, the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement this evening. Lancie Marchan, 64, who headed the East Orange Revitalization and Development Corporation, used the money for trips, hotel stays, visits to casinos and gifts, among other things, the…

USAO, Southern District of New York Press Release In Settlement, Bank Admits and Accepts Responsibility for Improperly Approving Thousands of Mortgage Loans for Government Insurance, and Agrees to Implement Enhanced Quality Control Program to Protect Against Future Violations Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Associate Attorney General Tony West, Stuart F. Delery, the Assistant Attorney General for…

United States Attorney District of Connecticut Press Release Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that GARI-MARK THOMAS, 38, of Michigan, formerly of Norwalk, waived his right to indictment and pleaded guilty today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas P. Smith in Hartford to one count of conspiracy to defraud the Federal Housing Authority through a mortgage fraud scheme. According to court…

NEW YORK (Legal Newsline) – JPMorgan Chase Bank has agreed to pay $614 million to settle a False Claims Act lawsuit, but it is unclear how much of that will be paid to a whistleblower who brought suit against the company. On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Justice announced the settlement, which resolves allegations that JPMorgan Chase improperly approved thousands of residential home mortgage loans for government insurance and refinancing. The…

United States Attorney District of Maryland Press Release Greenbelt, Maryland - U.S. District Judge Peter J. Messitte sentenced Jared Fanning, age 35, of Potomac, Maryland, today to 22 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for wire fraud in connection with a scheme to fraudulently obtain mortgages worth approximately $13 million. Judge Messitte also entered an order that Fanning pay restitution and forfeiture of $…