We audited the City of Baton Rouge and Parish of East Baton Rouge’s (City) Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program as part of the Office of Inspector General’s annual audit plan to review community planning and development funds.  The audit objective was to determine whether the City Read More

(Source:New Orleans Advocate) Big Freedia left federal court in a shiny Chevrolet Suburban on Wednesday with a whirl of cameras trailing her and a felony conviction on her record. The New Orleans bounce rapper, whose reality TV show made her a national star, pleaded guilty to the theft of nearly $ Read More

We audited the Puerto Rico Department of Housing’s Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program’s housing quality standards as part of the activities in our fiscal year 2014 audit plan.  We selected the Department because it had a large program receiving more than $54 million in 2014.  Our Read More

(Source: USAO, LA) LAFAYETTE, La. – United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced today that the former director of the Morgan City Housing Authority and two former employees were arraigned today on charges related to theft of half a million dollars. Charles E. Spann, 78, of Kingsport, Tenn Read More

(Source: heraldbulletin.com) ANDERSON – The son of an Anderson businessman was arrested Tuesday on suspicion he attempted to transfer Section 8 properties without the permission of his father, who has owned some of them for as long as 30 years. Madison County sheriff's deputies arrested Ben Thomas Read More

(Source: USAO, NY) Robert L. Capers, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, David A. Montoya, Inspector General for the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and Frederick W. Gibson, Acting Inspector General for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation today announced Read More

We audited the City of New York, Office of Management and Budget’s administration of its Temporary Disaster Assistance Program (TDAP) funded with Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds provided by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to assist in Read More

We audited the Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) assistance grant provided to the State of Rhode Island by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to assist in disaster recovery and rebuilding efforts resulting from damages caused by Hurricane Sandy. Read More

(source: wnep.com) HAZLETON -- State police, the IRS, and other federal agents raided the home of a controversial real estate agent Monday morning. Agents carried boxes out of the home of Ignacio Beato on Lincoln Street in Hazleton. They were there for about three hours. The case against Ignacio Read More

Testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General audited Homewood Terrace Mutual Homes’ Section 8 housing assistance payments program due to concerns over poor financial reporting and potentially inappropriate involvement by one of its board members.  Read More

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General, audited the Poplar Bluff Housing Authority because information obtained from HUD’s Public and Indian Housing Information Center indicated that the Authority appeared to have flat rents set at a rate below 80 Read More

(Source: Brooklyn District Attorney's Office) Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson, together with New York City Department of Investigation Commissioner Mark G. Peters, today announced in a 40-count indictment that a contractor, his subcontractor and a foreman have been variously charged with Read More

(Source: NY Daily News) An experienced contractor and two other businessmen took advantage of their non-English speaking employees by undercutting their wages and pocketing more than $1 million from the city, prosecutors said. Mehdi Dayan, 67, allegedly underpaid 27 employees who worked on an $8 Read More

(Source: USAO, MA) BOSTON – Lucy Girard, 78, of Townsend, Mass., pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Boston to stealing over $200,000 in Social Security and federal housing benefits. In February 2016, Girard was charged in a felony information.  U.S. District Court Senior Judge Rya Read More

  Testimony before the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies. Topic: "HUD Office of Inspector General Fiscal Year 2017 Budget Request and HUD’s Top Management and Performance Challenges". You may Read More

(Source: rep-am.com) WATERBURY — The Waterbury Housing Authority's first large-scale attempt to build new housing in two decades has begun with a major disappointment involving the risk of losing $350,000. The authority paid that amount to a Pennsylvania builder who has so far failed to deliver on Read More

(Source: nola.com) Big Freedia, the internationally famous New Orleans bounce music artist, has been charged with a felony count of theft of federal funds. Freedia, identified in court documents by her legal name of Freddie Ross, Jr., is accused of stealing more than $1,000 from the Department of Read More

(Source: USAO, LA) U.S. Attorney Kenneth A. Polite announced that FREDDIE ROSS, JR., age 37, of New Orleans, who performs under the stage name BIG FREEDIA, was charged in a one-count Bill of Information with theft of government funds. According to the Bill of Information, between about 2010 and Read More

(Source: USAO, NY) ALBANY, NEW YORK – Ronald Barney, age 66, of Orange, California, pleaded guilty yesterday to a misdemeanor charge of performing lead-based paint testing inspections and risk assessments without a certification from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The announcement was Read More