Two plead guilty to housing assistance fraud during pandemic

Two North Carolina residents entered guilty pleas to fraud charges in a case involving misuse of money set aside for people struggling to keep up with housing payments during the pandemic.

Takeeia Hawkins, 43, and her daughter, Shanasia Hawkins, 22, pled guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud in connection with almost $150,000 in federal funds the North Carolina Housing Opportunities and Prevention of Evictions program distributed. They could face a 30-year sentence.

"These funds were meant to help struggling families pay their rent, and these defendants stole it," said U.S. Attorney Michael Easley in a press release. "Our office will keep coming for fraudsters who used pandemic relief as a personal piggy bank." 

Strategies used to falsify identities and property ownership in the scheme highlight a public assistance vulnerability that could have implications for the mortgage industry risk management too.

The program offered online applications and the two perpetrators engaged in false representation in over 50 that they were property owners, according to court documents. They received a series of paper checks from the program that were supposed to be used to pay up to 15 months of rent payments. Those payments were supposed to cover unpaid rent or obligations tenants could have difficulty fulfilling in the future.

The intent of the federal funds was to pay distressed tenants' rents directly to the landlord and the perpetrators allegedly used a third party to get identity cards used in the scam.

"The COVID-19 pandemic was a difficult time for so many families, including those in communities across North Carolina," said NC State Bureau of Investigation Director Robert Schurmeier, in the release. "The purpose of emergency relief funds like the NC HOPE Program offered was to provide a lifeline to those struggling to keep a roof over their heads. It is beyond disappointing to know that individuals exploited the crisis."