Coshocton Metropolitan Housing Authority
Outcome
Gregory J. Darr, former Executive Director and CFO of the Coshocton Metropolitan Housing Authority, was sentenced to federal prison and ordered to pay $431,668.45 in restitution for embezzling HUD funds over five years for restaurant bills, real estate ventures, home improvements, and marina costs — and then attempting to obstruct the federal investigation.
Details
Coshocton Metropolitan Housing Authority — Executive Director/CFO Embezzlement (2012–2017)
Outcome: Gregory J. Darr, 64, former Executive Director and Chief Financial Officer of the Coshocton Metropolitan Housing Authority (CMHA) in Ohio, was sentenced to federal prison and ordered to pay $431,668.45 in restitution for embezzling HUD funds over five years and then attempting to obstruct the federal investigation by falsifying records.
Beginning in January 2012 and continuing through September 2017, Darr repeatedly embezzled money from both the CMHA operating accounts and the Resident Council accounts. He used the stolen funds for restaurant bills, out-of-state expenses connected to real estate ventures he co-owned with co-defendant Eric L. Blackwell, home improvements, and a marina slip and lot rental.
In August 2017, Darr learned of a federal investigation when HUD OIG agents executed search warrants at CMHA. He then took active steps to impede the investigation — falsifying resident council meeting notes and attempting to conceal financial records relevant to the probe.
Darr pleaded guilty in 2018 and was sentenced in April 2019. The case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Ohio and investigated by HUD's Office of Inspector General and the U.S. Secret Service.
Primary Source: Former Coschocton Public Housing Director Sentenced to Prison for Embezzling HUD Funds
How Crucible Prevents This
Darr held both the Executive Director and CFO roles — eliminating any segregation of duties between operations and finance. Crucible's dual-role prevention hook flags individuals holding both operational and financial officer roles and requires independent board-level financial oversight. Darr's attempt to falsify resident council meeting notes and conceal records after learning of the investigation demonstrates the value of Crucible's immutable audit log — records that cannot be altered or deleted after creation. A Crucible cross-entity payment control would have detected Darr's use of housing authority funds for co-owned real estate venture expenses.
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