Feds: the owner rented the apartment in article 8 to the father-in-law
A landlord struck a deal with the federal government after the US Department of Justice said he called for illegal housing subsidies.
Acting U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Jennifer Arbittier Williams, on Thursday said owner Mikhail Geneles had agreed to pay $ 90,000 to settle False Claims Act allegations that he illegally claimed government grants. US Department of Housing and Urban Development while renting a Bucks County apartment to his stepfather through the Housing Choice Voucher program, commonly known as Section 8. Rent to a family member in violation of departmental requirements.
Geneles requested federal government subsidies for his stepfather’s rent from May 2010 to May 2020, federal officials said.
“In the agreement, the United States alleges that Geneles participated as a landlord in the Housing Choice Voucher Program (HCVP), a program through which HUD provides rent subsidies to eligible low-income tenants who find rental housing. acceptable on the private market. The government alleges that Geneles submitted documents to the Bucks County Housing Authority (which administers the HCVP in Bucks County) falsely certifying that the assisted tenant of the Geneles rental property was not an immediate relative of the owners of the property . In fact, the only tenant was Geneles’ stepfather, which prevented Geneles from receiving housing subsidies from the HCVP, â€officials said.
The Settlement Agreement contains “the allegations only; there has been no determination of responsibility, â€officials said.
“The HUD instituted the HCVP program to help low-income residents with no other options obtain decent housing,†Williams said. “In investigating this matter, we have warned all homeowners participating in the Section 8 program that they cannot place relatives in apartments for which they receive HCVP funds. As soon as this matter was brought to his attention, Mr. Geneles pledged to redress the situation. We appreciate his cooperative approach and his efforts to rectify the problem.
The case was investigated by the Office of the Inspector General of the US Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Bucks County Housing Authority.
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