Charge Teacher Hid Income To Rip Off Housing Program

A city Teacher has been arrested and charged with concealing her income to collect Section 8 subsidies, the Department of Investigation announced Sept. 30.

ROSE GILL HEARN: Scourge of the rent cheats.

Antonia Pearson, a per-diem Teacher who has been employed with the Department of Education since 1997, allegedly collected $16,986 in Section 8 housing subsidies that she was not entitled to between 2004 and 2008. Ms. Pearson reported her non-city income to the city Housing Development Corporation, but failed to report her DOE income, which ranged up to $37,885 annually.

Didn't Report, Then Understated

Between 2004 and 2006, Ms. Pearson did not report her DOE income at all, and in 2007 and 2008 she only reported a portion of it, signing HDC forms each year saying that she expected to receive a yearly income between $5,000 and $6,965. She earned approximately $110.29 per day in her teaching job, and is assigned to Jane Addams High School for Academic Careers in The Bronx. In 2007, she earned $37,885.

DOI Commissioner Rose Gill Hearn said the arrest "demonstrates DOI's continued commitment to protect precious housing subsidies for those who are entitled to them ... anyone who deliberately conceals income to illegally collect rental subsidies will face arrest and criminal prosecution."

Ms. Pearson's arrest came after the DOI compared the income of city employees to the incomes reported to the HDC. HDC Inspector Joseph P. Piazza led the investigation, with the case to be prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District. If found guilty, Ms. Pearson faces up to 10 years in Federal prison.