| TRENTON
– Attorney General Stuart Rabner and
Division of Criminal Justice Director Gregory
A. Paw announced that a Union County woman
was sentenced to prison today for assisting
a former Department of Community Affairs
senior field representative to steal more
than $866,000 from a housing and rental
assistance program designed to prevent homelessness.
“Neither
the bounds of law nor the bounds of decency
held the greed of these defendants in check,”
said Attorney General Rabner. “They
stole money that was intended to provide
housing for families in hardship.”
“We’ve
stepped up the fight against public corruption,
dedicating increased personnel and resources
to prosecutions such as this one,”
said Director Paw.
Renita
Livingston, 33, of Hillside, was sentenced
to three years in state prison by Superior
Court Judge Charles A. Delehey in Mercer
County. She also was ordered to pay $10,500
in restitution to the Department of Community
Affairs. The sentence followed Livingston’s
May 1 guilty plea to a charge of second-degree
conspiracy.
Director
Paw noted that the Department of Community
Affairs reported the suspected criminal
activity to the Division of Criminal Justice
- Special Prosecutions Bureau when program
officials uncovered questionable applications
and related transactions involving the Union
County Homelessness Prevention Program.
The DCA provided administrative resources
and investigative assistance to the Division
of Criminal Justice throughout the investigation.
“The
Homelessness Prevention Program is intended
to help those that need it most. The punishment
certainly fits the appalling nature of this
crime,” said Department of Community
Affairs' Commissioner Susan Bass Levin.
“It sends a strong message that people
attempting to profit illegally will simply
not get away with it.”
In
pleading guilty, Livingston and co-defendant
Tashime Mitchell, 33, of Irvington, admitted
they assisted Robin Wheeler-Hicks, 47, of
Elizabeth, a former DCA-Union County senior
field representative, in submitting false
applications to the Homelessness Prevention
Program. Mitchell pleaded guilty to second-degree
bribery and was sentenced to five years
in prison on Nov. 3. On March 20, Wheeler-Hicks
pleaded guilty to second-degree charges
of bribery and theft by deception, admitting
she submitted at least 428 false applications
totaling $866,560.
The
Homelessness Prevention Program provides
grants to eligible individuals and families
who, through no fault of their own, are
in jeopardy of becoming homeless. It provides
money to pay rent to keep a family in a
current home, and provides applicants with
initial rent and security deposit for a
new residence if they have been evicted.
Wheeler-Hicks, as the senior field representative
in Union County, had responsibility for
processing HPP cases. Wheeler-Hicks used
her official position to obtain pertinent
information regarding HPP candidates, which
she used to create and submit fictitious
HPP claims to DCA for payment to applicant
landlords. The fraudulent applications reported
the applicants were temporarily homeless
due to a residential fire and included fictitious
fire reports, purportedly from the Elizabeth
Fire Department.
For
a share of the proceeds, Livingston and
Mitchell assisted Wheeler-Hicks by providing
false information for certain applications,
such as employment information, address
and landlord information, and household
expense information. It was also charged
that Wheeler-Hicks accepted money from accomplices
for processing HPP applications, and that
Livingston and Mitchell manufactured evidence
and attempted to influence the testimony
of another witness.
On
Sept. 28, 2005, three co-conspirators pleaded
guilty in the criminal fraud:
- Carletta
Smith, 31, of Somerset, a former Certified
Public Accountant, self-employed landlord,
and the owner-of-record of four corporations
that pleaded guilty to official misconduct
in the case (C&C Financial Group LLC,
CCB Investments LLC, Jonah Investment
Group LLC, and 96 Eaton Place LLC);
-
Monica Smith, 28, of Spotswood; and
-
Lisa Smith Foster, 34, of Howell.
The
guilty pleas required the defendants to
pay full restitution of $33,859 to the DCA.
At the time of the plea, Lisa Smith Foster
was admitted into PTI. Carletta Smith forfeited
her CPA license. The corporate defendants
forfeited $101,577. Monica Smith will receive
probation.
The
case was handled by Deputy Attorney General
Anthony Picione; State Investigators Joseph
Caloiaro, Rob Feriozzi, Anthony Luyber and
Kiersten Pentony; Civil Investigator Wayne
Cummings; New Jersey State Police detectives
Dustin Lesnever, Gerald Nachurski and Gregory
Shawaryn and Analyst Alison Callery.
Attorney
General Rabner and Director Paw noted that
the Division of Criminal Justice - Special
Prosecutions Bureau has established a toll-free
Corruption Tipline for the public to report
corruption, financial crime and other illegal
activities. The statewide Corruption Tipline
is 1-866-TIPS-4CJ. Additionally,
the public can log on to the Division of
Criminal Justice Web page at www.njdcj.org
to report suspected wrongdoing. All information
received through the Division of Criminal
Justice Corruption Tipline or Web page will
remain confidential.
|
