Federal officials are involved in a case of alleged fraud uncovered three years ago by the City of Wichita Housing Services Department. City officials discovered the alleged wrongdoing by a client and called in federal investigators.
The case involves a Wichita woman who received federal Section 8 rental assistance funds through the City of Wichita’s Housing Services Department. In 2000, City officials investigated the woman for misrepresenting the amount of her household income so she could collect more federal rent assistance than she was legally entitled to receive. City officials terminated the woman from the program and turned the case over to the Inspector General of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development.
“This is a case of city officials overseeing and managing tax dollars responsibly and taking action when we suspect people are cheating the system,” said Mark Stanberry, Acting Director of Housing Services.
A television news report aired Monday night as “breaking news” reported sketchy details of a federal probe into alleged misuse of housing funds. The report quoted an unnamed city employee who claimed money was not used as it was intended. The news report also claimed the federal probe “comes as a complete surprise to most City Council members…”
City Government Relations Director Mike Taylor says the broadcast news report is apparently referring to the three year old case, but because it was reported as “breaking news” with few facts, it confused even people who knew about the case.
“The Mayor and City Council were informed of the situation and the possibility of federal action three weeks ago by the City Manager, but didn’t recognize it as the same situation because of the way the story was reported. This case, which stems from a City investigation conducted three years ago, would only qualify as “breaking news” on the History Channel,” Taylor said.