LANCASTER, PA — A beacon of hope during the pandemic, the Lancaster County Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP), intended to keep residents housed, has found itself at the center of a rental assistance fraud case that will surely put the fear of the law into the hearts of wrongdoers.
The first of 16 defendants, Danaziah Garcia, 25, of Habecker Road, pleaded guilty in the Lancaster County Court to an array of charges encompassing theft by deception, criminal conspiracy, receiving stolen property, forgery, and unsworn falsification to authorities. In agreement with her plea, Judge Margaret Miller imposed Garcia’s sentence — four years of probation and a hefty price to pay — $20,300 in restitution.
The tangled web of deceit, allegedly orchestrated by Brandice Reyes-Alvarez, a former employee of the Lancaster County Housing and Redevelopment Authority (LCHRA), involved fraudulent applications for rental assistance. The LCHRA, a public authority tasked with receiving and processing ERAP applications, was the unsuspecting victim of this scheme that hit the hardest in the midst of a delicate period — the COVID-19 pandemic.
The ERAP program was conceived as a lifeline in March 2021 with the goal to provide rental and utility payments to landlords and utility companies; a mission to prevent disgruntled landlords from evicting tenants who were wrestling with financial instability due to the pandemic. The LCHRA, under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Treasury and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania through the Department of Human Services, rolled up its sleeves to disburse funds for rental assistance.
The investigation kicked off in June 2022 when an eagle-eyed LCHRA member spotted the deceit — several suspicious ERAP applications. An alarm was sounded when the internal procedures flagged program payments to an employee. The convoluted puzzle of fraudulent applications started to unravel, revealing forged documents such as leases and statements of past-due rent.
Furthermore, this intricate scheme masterfully used a false phone number and landlord information on the assistance application, including an audacious claim of a landlord who had sadly passed away in 2018. Imaginative, if not morally reprehensible, the trick here was to make sure the allegedly non-participating landlord verification is obtained, thereby ensuring the funds are provided directly to the tenant.
The paychecks were either sent directly to the applicant or e-deposited into bank accounts. In a startling revelation, investigators found that a portion of the ill-gotten proceeds wound its way back to Reyes-Alvarez and other co-defendants aiding the scheme.
The fraudulent claims — ranging from June 2021 to August 2022 — have reportedly cost approximately $281,004. After this alarming discovery, the LCHRA immediately took steps to thwart further fraud, including the decision to stop accepting electronic applications. The ERAP program continues its mission, despite the setbacks, but now the assistance is strictly focused on eviction prevention.
The remaining 15 defendants stand accused of similar heinous charges, including but not limited to theft by deception, a third-degree felony. They are presumed innocent until proven guilty, and the law will certainly take its course under the watchful eye of Assistant District Attorney Mark Fetterman.
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