Houston与纽约两男子认罪：以假租约提交23份申请，盗取北卡罗来纳州NC HOPE租房援助逾18.7万美元
美国司法部北卡罗来纳东区联邦检察官办公室10月28日宣布，住 Texas 州 Houston 的 Daquan Copeland（35岁）与住 New York 州 Jamaica 的 Esless White Sr.（51岁）已在联邦法院就共谋邮件欺诈认罪。二人被指与同伙以假租约骗取联邦政府逾187,000美元的疫情住房援助，每人面临最高30年联邦监禁与最高100万美元罚款，量刑将于今年稍晚宣判。
据检察官办公室说明，二人通过北卡罗来纳州「住房机会与防驱逐」（NC HOPE）计划申请紧急租房援助，并以 Lenoir County 数处房产的假租户租约支撑申请。2020年11月至2021年12月间，Copeland、White 与同伙共提交23份欺诈申请，盗取逾187,000美元政府住房资金供个人使用。NC HOPE 计划的资金来自国会2020年3月27日通过的《CARES法案》：该法授权50亿美元社区发展整笔拨款（CDBG），由住房与城市发展部（HUD）管理，州政府据此向受疫情影响的租户提供房租与水电费援助；NC HOPE 首批即动用5,150万美元 CDBG 资金。
联邦检察官 Ellis Boyle 表示：「这两人吸走了本为有需要者设立的联邦计划的资金。现在他们只能坐等量刑落下。任何欺诈纳税人计划的人都将被追究责任。」住房与城市发展部监察长办公室特别探员主管 Jerome Winkle 表示，被盗的每一美元都是疫情期间本可帮助他人付房租的一美元，这不是无受害人的犯罪。
本案由首席联邦法官 Richard E. Myers II 受理认罪，案号4:26-CR-14-M；住房与城市发展部监察长办公室与北卡罗来纳州调查局负责调查，美国法警局与 Kinston 警察局提供协助。
Houston and New York Men Plead Guilty: 23 Fake-Lease Applications Stole Over $187,000 From North Carolina's NC HOPE Rental Assistance Program
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina announced on October 28 that Daquan Copeland, 35, of Houston, Texas, and Esless White Sr., 51, of Jamaica, New York, pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiracy to commit mail fraud. Prosecutors say the two, working with others, defrauded the federal government of more than $187,000 in pandemic housing assistance. Each faces up to 30 years in federal prison and a fine of up to $1 million when sentenced later this year.
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Copeland and White applied for emergency rental assistance through the North Carolina Housing Opportunities and Prevention of Evictions (NC HOPE) program, supporting their applications with fake tenant leases for several properties in Lenoir County. Between November 2020 and December 2021, Copeland, White, and others submitted 23 fraudulent applications and stole more than $187,000 in government housing funds for their personal use. NC HOPE was funded under the CARES Act, passed March 27, 2020, which authorized $5 billion for Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) programs administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD); North Carolina used an initial $51.5 million CDBG allocation for the program's housing and utility assistance.
'These two leeches bled dollars from federal programs designed to help those in need. Now they sit and wait for the gavel of justice to hammer down their sentence,' said U.S. Attorney Ellis Boyle. 'Anyone who defrauds any of our taxpayer programs will be held accountable.' Jerome Winkle, Special Agent in Charge of the HUD Office of Inspector General, said every dollar stolen was a dollar unavailable to help someone pay rent during the crisis, and that the crime was not victimless.
Chief U.S. District Judge Richard E. Myers II accepted the pleas. The case, No. 4:26-CR-14-M, was investigated by the HUD Office of Inspector General and the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, with assistance from the U.S. Marshals Service and the Kinston Police Department.
来源：GSM·美国（原文链接）
图片来源：图：位于 Wilmington 的 Alton Lennon 联邦大楼与美国法院（北卡罗来纳东区联邦地区法院 Wilmington 分部所在地），本案认罪在此区受理。照片：Carol M. Highsmith 摄，公共领域（美国国会图书馆藏），经 Wikimedia Commons。 / The Alton Lennon Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in Wilmington, home to the Wilmington Division of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, where the pleas were accepted. Photo: Carol M. Highsmith, public domain (Library of Congress), via Wikimedia Commons.
