A Texas housing authority head routinely accepted bribes from people to whom she then gave free, federally-funded Section 8 houses, Department of Justice officials charge.
Susan Munguia, who led the housing authority for Hidalgo, Tex., for 25 years, has been indicted along with her secretary, Lubina Pedraza.
People would pay bribes ranging from $800 to $1,300 to be jumped past those on a waiting list. Individuals on such lists can often be forced to endure long waits before public housing units become available. Once approved for aid, the bribers were then able to move to a private home, with the rent being paid to the landlord by the government.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development sends money to local governments’ housing authorities, which are typically quasi-independent, with employees who aren’t accountable to either federal or local officials. The housing authorities often use federal tax dollars to hire K Street firms to lobby for more federal money, even though doing so is illegal. An association representing the nation’s largest housing authorities recently lobbied Congress fiercely to be able to pay high salaries and submit to less oversight, according to inspector generals’ investigations.
Under President Obama, HUD stopped enforcing regulations that required local governments to verify the eligibility of public housing applicants for federally funded assistance. Now, applicants merely affirm that they are eligible.
Munguia and Pedraza are also alleged to have written checks to individuals as if they were landlords accepting recipients of federal housing assistance when the funds actually came back to the two bureaucrats.
No charges were announced against the individuals who offered the bribes.
