Housing Authority Leaders Win Appeal to Toss Bank Fraud Counts

Two Hoosiers found guilty of exploiting their positions at the Housing Authority of South Bend won appeals to reverse their bank fraud convictions because the prosecution failed to identify a false statement to a bank.

The US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit affirmed their convictions for wire fraud, however.

Tonya Robinson and Albert Smith schemed to defraud the Housing Authority and the US Department of Housing and Urban Development by hiring contractors to perform fictional maintenance and collecting a cut of the payments for the phony projects.

“They made false representations so that the Housing Authority would cut ...