LANCASTER, Pa. — The top two conspirators charged by the Lancaster County District Attorney’s Office and Office of State Inspector General with illegally pocketing funds available due to the COVID-19 pandemic pled guilty Wednesday morning in Lancaster County Court, District Attorney Heather Adams announced this week.
Brandice Reyes-Alvarez, 43, of Leola, pled guilty in March to charges of theft by deception, criminal conspiracy, receiving stolen property, forgery, and unsworn falsification to authorities before Lancaster County Judge Dennis Reinaker.
Reyes-Alvarez was sentenced to six to 23 months in prison plus two years of probation and eight months on house arrest, prosecutors said. She must also pay $9,070.37 in restitution.
Reyes-Alvarez was a former employee at Lancaster County Housing and Redevelopment Authorities and conspired with 15 defendants to submit fraudulent applications for rental assistance. LCHRA was the public authority designated to accept and process Emergency Rental Assistance Program applications, and was responsible for reviewing assistance applications and the disbursement of the funds for rental assistance to tenants facing pandemic-related financial hardship. Payments were made to landlords or directly to tenants when landlords chose not to participate.
“She was the primary actor in a scheme to defund the federal government in an ERAP program,” prosecuting Assistant District Attorney Mark Fetterman said. “During a national emergency, our government took taxpayers’ money to come up with ERAP. She betrayed the taxpayers of Lancaster County.”
Reyes-Alvarez received a “kickback” from helping the other defendants receive illegal funds, Fetterman said.
“You were actually making money off something you knew wasn’t approved,” Reinaker said to the defendant after she apologized and said she was attempting to help people suffering from financial difficulties during the pandemic.
Adelina White, 37 of Lancaster, pled guilty immediately after Reyes-Alvarez to charges of theft by deception, criminal conspiracy, receiving stolen property, forgery, and unsworn falsification to authorities.
She was sentenced by Judge Reinaker to four years of probation with one year on house arrest, prosecutors said.
White worked directly with Reyes-Alvarez in the scheme using tactics such as posing as a landlord and creating fake emails to receive the funds illegally. Reyes-Alvarez and White are two of 16 defendants charged in the scheme to submit fraudulent applications for rental assistance.
The Lancaster County ERAP was established in March 2021 to provide rental and utility payments to landlords and utility companies to keep residents housed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Funding for the program was provided by the U.S. Department of Treasury directly to the County and by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania through the Department of Human Services.
The investigation into the fraudulent applications began in June 2022 when a member of LCHRA contacted OSIG after uncovering several suspicious applications within ERAP.
The discovery occurred when internal procedures flagged program payments to an employee. That application revealed inconsistent information and a phone number not associated with the landlord listed. This phone number was identified on several other fraudulent applications.
The investigation revealed the defendants submitted fraudulent assistance applications containing false information that were supported by forged documents such as leases, statements of past due rent and other fraudulent documents. The scheme involved providing a false phone number and landlord information on the assistance application, including a landlord who had passed away in 2018.
LCHRA staff would call the number provided on the application and receive verification from the person pretending to be a landlord that they did not want to participate in the program. As a result, the funds would be provided directly to the tenant. Checks were issued and sent directly to the applicant or e-deposited into bank accounts and, in several cases, investigators found that a portion of the proceeds was sent back to Reyes-Alvarez and other codefendants assisting in the scheme.
The money was claimed and received from June 2021 until August 2022 and losses totaled approximately $281,004.00.
After the discovery, the LCHRA immediately put steps into place to make sure additional fraud was flagged and no longer accepts electronic applications.
The ERAP program is ongoing, however, assistance is limited to preventing eviction. Ten of the 16 defendants have pleaded guilty and been sentenced. The six remaining defendants have active cases and are presumed innocent.
