PROVIDENCE, R.I. — The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced Wednesday that an audit of the West Warwick Housing Authority found that more than $2 million in “procurements” lacked proper documentation. Stephen O’Rourke, who started last January as the authority’s new executive director, was not in charge during the audit period, Jan. 1, 2012, through June 30, 2016. He said Wednesday that many files were thrown out by an…

Eugene Peter Kenworthy, Jr., age 50, of Ambler, PA, was charged today by Indictment with wire fraud, false statements for the purpose of influencing the Federal Housing Administration, aggravated identity theft, and failure to file a tax return, announced Acting United States Attorney Louis Lappen. If convicted the defendant faces a maximum possible sentence is 166 years’ imprisonment, five years of supervised release, a $5,050,000 fine, and a…

(source: thetimesherald.com) If true, the allegations against Lorena Loren, the former director of the St. Clair Housing Commission, are disturbing on a number of levels. Federal investigators allege Loren embezzled more than $300,000 from the housing commission between 2008 and 2016, when she retired. Most heartbreaking is that the money that Loren allegedly misdirected into her own pockets and those of some of her family members was meant to…

(Source: thetimesherald.com) The St. Clair Housing Commission’s former executive director is facing a fraud charge for allegedly misusing federal rental assistance funds and commission credit cards to benefit herself and family members.  The charges allege Lorena Loren embezzled more than $300,000. According to federal court documents filed Monday, Loren used Section 8 housing assistance payments to enter into fraudulent rental contracts…

(Source: skyvalleychronicle.com) (SEATTLE, WA.) -- The owner of a now defunct Tukwila, WA based real estate escrow firm was indicted last month by a federal grand jury on ten counts of bank fraud, and one count each of mail and wire fraud, announced U.S. Attorney Annette L. Hayes in Seattle Friday. Lori Lynn Andrew, 48, now of Cashmere, Washington near Wenatchee, the owner of Hartman Escrow, Inc., was arrested and arraigned on the indictment…

Department of Justice Acting United States Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow Middle District of Florida FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                            …

CITYSIDE MANAGEMENT CORPORATION PAYS $4.3 MILLION TO RESOLVE FALSE CLAIMS ACT ALLEGATIONS Office of the United States Attorney Eastern District of California U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Wednesday, July 26, 2017 www.justice.gov/edca CONTACT: LAUREN HORWOOD PHONE: 916-554-2706 [email protected] CITYSIDE MANAGEMENT CORPORATION PAYS $4.3 MILLION TO RESOLVE FALSE CLAIMS ACT ALLEGATIONS FRESNO, Calif. —…

(Source: The Guam Daily Post) Six people who were on the board of federally funded Guam Housing and Urban Renewal Authority, and the agency's executive director, face a combined 47 misdemeanor charges for allegedly holding secret meetings that violate the Open Government Law. The misdemeanor charges include violation of the law that requires keeping meetings open to the public, as well as official misconduct and conspiracy. "Illegal secret…

NEWARK, N.J. – A Newark police officer today admitted conspiring to fraudulently obtain payments under the federal public housing assistance program known as “Section 8,” Acting U.S. Attorney William E. Fitzpatrick announced. Luis Cancel, 50, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Jose L. Linares in Newark federal court to an information charging him with one count of agreeing with another individual to obtain Section 8 public housing…

Tampa, FL – Acting United States Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow announces a civil settlement with Alexander Olympus Zarris that resolves alleged violations of the False Claims Act (“FCA”) and the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 (“FIRREA”) through reverse mortgage transactions engineered by Zarris at a Tarpon Springs condominium complex. Zarris will pay $475,000 to address the damage his conduct caused to a…

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Three California residents were sentenced today to a combined 39 years in prison for their roles in a nationwide, multi-year “home mortgage modification” fraud that scammed thousands of vulnerable victims out of at least $11 million.  Sammy Araya, 41, of Santa Ana, was sentenced to 20 years, Michael Henderson, 49, of Costa Mesa, was sentenced to 12 years, and Jen Seko, 36, of Anaheim, was sentenced to 7 years in prison,…

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Vice President of Porter Drywall and Black Star Drywall, Inc. was sentenced in U.S. District Court to five years of probation and ordered to pay more than $25,000 in restitution to the IRS for filing a false income tax return. As a condition of his probation, Robert E. Porter, 53, of Westerville, Ohio, must ensure that Porter Drywall subscribes to proper governmental forms and otherwise complies with all tax, labor and…

Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that BRADFORD BARNEYS, 51, of Odenton, Maryland, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Michael P. Shea in Hartford to 30 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervise release, for conspiring with Timothy W. Burke in a long-running fraud scheme that targeted distressed homeowners throughout Connecticut. BARNEYS was an attorney licensed to…

(SOurce: texasmonitor) Trips to Las Vegas and Denver, the rental of a beach house owned by a family member, and taxpayers footing the bill for duplicate travel costs were among the findings of a recent audit of the South Texas-based Weslaco Housing Authority. The audit — conducted by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development — found that the housing authority paid its commissioners and employees for “ineligible, unreasonable,…

DALLAS — Tasha Lashaun Wilson, of Dallas, was sentenced last Friday by Chief U.S. District Judge Barbara M. G. Lynn to serve a prison sentence of 12 months and one day for theft of government funds, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas. Wilson pleaded guilty in July 2015 to one count of theft of government money. Chief Judge Lynn ordered that Wilson be immediately remanded into federal custody at the conclusion…

(Source: KRGV TV) WESLACO – The Weslaco Housing Authority is under a federal inspection. Federal auditors said the agency spent thousands of taxpayer dollars on unnecessary trips. Federal authorities said they found more than $23,000 used the wrong way. The Office of Inspector General’s audit claimed: Expenses paid for a commissioner to attend a political conference that doesn’t have to do with public housing. Expenses paid for another…

PITTSBURGH – A Westmoreland County resident has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh on charges of bank fraud and mail fraud, Acting United States Attorney Soo C. Song announced today. The five-count indictment, returned on June 27, named Nicolette Gizzi, age 44, of North Huntingdon, PA as the sole defendant. According to the indictment, from December 2009 through approximately June 2016, Gizzi, who was employed as the Financial…

BOSTON – A Taunton woman pleaded guilty in federal court in Boston today to concealing information and making false statements in order to receive Social Security disability benefits and Section 8 housing assistance to which she was not entitled.   Marisha Ebanks, 40, pleaded guilty to one count of Supplemental Security Income fraud and one count of making false statements. U.S. District Court Judge Allison D. Burroughs scheduled…

CHICAGO — A Chicago businessman has been arraigned on federal fraud charges for his alleged role in a scheme to bilk elderly homeowners out of millions of dollars. MARK STEVEN DIAMOND, a mortgage loan originator with offices in Chicago and Calumet City, engaged in a home repair and loan fraud scheme that targeted elderly homeowners and lenders, according to the indictment. Diamond fraudulently caused lenders to make reverse-mortgage loans to…

(Source: beverlyreview.net) One of four men found guilty of illegally taking over several vacant homes in Beverly/Morgan Park two years ago, a practice commonly known as squatting, has been sentenced to 14 years in prison. David Farr, also known as Fahim Ali, was admitted into the Northern Reception and Classification Center in Joliet on May 24, according to the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC). His projected parole date and discharge…