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Manhattan Man, Queens Woman Busted for Housing Fraud

By Trevor Kapp | April 26, 2012 4:01pm
Two people were arrested in separate housing-fraud scams after a Department of Investigation probe.
Two people were arrested in separate housing-fraud scams after a Department of Investigation probe.
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DNAinfo/Sonja Sharp

MANHATTAN — Two people were arrested in separate housing-fraud scams, authorities announced Thursday.

Sherwan Gamble, 52, was charged Tuesday with theft of public funds after he allegedly leased a NYC Housing Authority apartment, then advertised it as a sublet on Craigslist and charged his tenants $850 a month — all while living in the state of Washington since 2001.

According to a criminal complaint, the Department of Investigation found that Gamble was an authorized tenant in the Baruch Houses on the Lower East Side and had purportedly completed annual affidavits of income.

Joanne Simmons, 50, was charged with theft of public funds and making false statements. She paid roughly $72 a month in rent for a Brooklyn apartment and signed annual affidavits of income that falsely claimed the apartment was her main place of residence, officials said.

Investigators discovered that Simmons actually lived in Queens, raking in $123,029 in illegal benefits over eight years, according to the DOI.

"Fraudsters continue to create new ways to profit illegally from public housing benefits and apartments," Department of Investigation Commissioner Rose Gill Hearn said in a release. "But DOI investigators are just as innovative, meticulously tracking down the facts and exposing the scams."