Pierce County Housing Authority

Tacoma, WA 2016--2019 Public Housing

DOJ HUD_OIG Embezzlement Wire_fraud

Penalty

$7 million

Outcome

A former Pierce County Housing Authority executive was sentenced to 51 months in federal prison for wire fraud after stealing nearly $7 million from the housing authority between March 2016 and July 2019.

Details

Pierce County Housing Authority — Executive Director Embezzlement (2016–2019)

Outcome: A former executive of the Pierce County Housing Authority was sentenced to 51 months in federal prison for wire fraud after embezzling nearly $7 million from the federally funded housing authority between March 2016 and July 2019.

The former Pierce County Housing Authority executive was arrested in March 2020 after an investigation by HUD's Office of Inspector General. She pleaded guilty to multi-million-dollar wire fraud and was sentenced in August 2021 to 51 months in federal prison.

Between March 2016 and July 2019, the executive exploited her position of financial authority within the housing authority to steal nearly $7 million — one of the largest embezzlement cases recorded against a public housing authority in the Pacific Northwest. The funds were diverted from the HUD-funded housing program intended to provide housing assistance to low-income residents of Pierce County, Washington.

The case was investigated by HUD's Office of Inspector General and prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Washington.

Primary Source: Former low-income housing executive sentenced to prison for embezzling nearly $7 million

How Crucible Prevents This

A $7 million embezzlement over three years in a HUD-funded housing authority represents one of the largest single-executive housing authority frauds documented. Crucible's financial anomaly detection hook monitoring aggregate fund outflows by approving official would have flagged the sustained high-volume transfers. Monthly reconciliation controls comparing HUD disbursements against documented housing expenditures would have surfaced a multi-million discrepancy within the first fiscal year.

Source: Former low-income housing executive sentenced to prison for embezzling nearly $7 million

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