Thursday, October 22, 2009

6 women busted for housing scam

From the NY Times:

In a notoriously expensive city, people will do anything to get a break on housing costs. They might hide a relative, change their name or suggest they earn less than they really do.

But six women went too far and were arrested in a particularly imaginative scheme for seeking the government’s help with rent payments, officials said on Tuesday.

The women have been charged with submitting fraudulent documents — including forged police reports and court orders — to portray themselves as victims of domestic violence in an apparent attempt to jump to the front of a long waiting list for government subsidized apartments, said Rose Gill Hearn, the commissioner of the city’s Department of Investigation.

Since she took her position in 2002, Ms. Gill Hearn has seen hundreds of housing fraud cases a year “of different permutations,” she said. “But this is the first time that D.O.I. has investigated and uncovered individuals who are engaging in housing fraud by posing as victims of domestic violence.”

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Let's give them housing, at Rikers Island for starts.

Anonymous said...

Why doesn't the DOI investigate the fact that illegal aliens are given Section 8 vouchers before native born NY'ers? 'scuse me, I forgot my PC terminology "refugees"

if you are from the Dominican Republic how come you get section 8 immediately, no questions asked? So you & everyone in your extended family/gang can deal drugs, pimp & prostitute and otherwise destroy the neighborhood you live in? Start by throwing every piece of litter on the sidewalk and throwing your baby's used diapers into the closest garden. End up with accidentally shooting a grandmother during one of your gang fights. (Sadie Mitchell)

In 1994, NYCHA changed the rules regarding Section 8. No longer did you simply have to be generic poor. To get it, you had to be a victim of domestic violence, certified homeless (not just homeless) or a refugee.
Thanks to the Jewish lobby, guess who in 1995 got the most Section 8 vouchers? Russians. Who got pushed back on the list? American's born in NYC.

When the deputy mayor, Doctoroff, forced the sale and privatization of a Mitchell Lama building, Independence Plaza in Tribeca, a lot of those residents were handed Section 8. Again, NY'ers were pushed back on the list.

The DOI should investigate NYCHA for the way they don't give the section 8 vouchers to Americans.