Arrest Teacher Who Lied About Earnings To Get Rent Paid
By DAVID SIMS
A special education Teacher has been charged with collecting more than $39,000 in housing subsidies because she lied about her income, after a joint inquiry by the city Department of Investigation and the Office of the Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Monique Ellis, also known as Monique Wallace, has been a Teacher with the Department of Education since 1991 and is currently a special education Teacher at P.S. 180 in Borough Park, Brooklyn. She has been charged with concealing her DOE income and collecting Section 8 housing subsidies to supplement her rent.

Under-Reported Income

Between 2003 and 2008 Ms. Wallace obtained $39,968 from the Section 8 Rental Assistance Program, which is funded by HUD. Despite her Teacher salary of $55,430 per year, money was paid directly to her landlord on her behalf by HUD because she reported that her income ranged between $5,200 and $16,445. The DOI and Special Agents from HUD OIG were tipped off by the management company for Ms. Ellis's Section 8 subsidized building in Brooklyn.

"Section 8 housing is a scarce and valuable resource reserved for those truly in need," said Investigation Commissioner Rose Gill Hearn in a statement. Concealing one's income to garner undeserved housing subsidies is an abuse of the program, a theft from the taxpayers, and a disservice to the eligible families who would otherwise receive the stolen benefits."

Rene Fables, Special Agent in Charge at HUD OIG, added that the unit "is committed to identifying individuals who are defrauding our programs."

Benton J. Campbell, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, will prosecute the case. If Ms. Ellis is convicted, she faces up to 10 years in Federal prison.