HRA Workers Arrested For Housing Fraud

By MIA GOLDBERG

Two employees of the Human Resources Administration, have been arrested and charged with falsifying documents to understate their income and improperly obtain housing subsidies from the Housing Development Corporation, the Department of Investigation announced.

ROSE GILL HEARN: Cross-checking paid off.

They are the latest arrests resulting from ongoing efforts to crack down on city employees who have illegally obtained housing subsidies.

A DOI Priority

"DOI is actively targeting fraud by City employees who falsify applications and forge letters to hide income and obtain excessive housing subsidies from the HDC and other public agencies," said DOI Commissioner Rose Gill Hearn in a statement.

To qualify for low-income public housing assistance, applicants must periodically provide written proof of their income to the funding agencies.

Sheila Burns, an HRA clerical worker since November 2005, three months after she was hired twice forged letters to her landlord from her former employer that falsely reported her income was only $7,800 and $4,000, respectively. At the time, her HRA salary was $26,742.

The complaint alleges that as a result of those false reports, Ms. Burns illegally received $6,698 in housing subsidies from November 2005 through January. She has been charged with five felonies, including Grand Larceny in the Third Degree, and several misdemeanor charges. If convicted, she faces up to seven years in prison.

Victoria Butler, an Eligibility Specialist at HRA since 2001, on two occasions beginning in August 2006 intentionally omitted child-support payments and other sources of income from her applications for low-income housing assistance. The alleged omissions were discovered before she had been awarded housing assistance. She is charged with Forgery in the Second Degree and Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the First Degree. If convicted, she also faces up to seven years imprisonment.

Ms. Gill Hearn said that the crimes were discovered by studying the income-verification documents of city employees who have received subsidized housing, and comparing HDC records with the city's payroll records.