Lisa G. Cooper, 55, a Cottonport Housing Authority employee, pleaded guilty in August 2022 to federal program theft for diverting tenant payments from the housing authority between 2017 and 2019, discovered through a routine financial audit that revealed accounting discrepancies.

Cottonport Housing Authority — Employee Theft of Tenant Payments (2017–2019)

Outcome: Lisa G. Cooper, 55, of Cottonport, Louisiana, an employee of the Cottonport Housing Authority, pleaded guilty in August 2022 to federal program theft for diverting tenant payments away from the housing authority between 2017 and 2019, a scheme that was only discovered through a routine financial audit.

Cooper was employed by the Cottonport Housing Authority (CHA), a local government agency providing subsidized housing to low-income individuals that received more than $10,000 per year in 2017, 2018, and 2019 from HUD in the form of capital funds and operating subsidies.

In 2019, a routine financial audit of the CHA revealed accounting discrepancies — specifically, that from 2017 through 2019, tenant payments were being diverted from the housing authority. The audit identified Cooper as the source of the diversion. The scheme persisted for approximately two years before the audit surfaced the problem.

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 Louisiana.

Primary Source: Employee of Cottonport Housing Authority Pleads Guilty to Theft of Federal Program Funds