BOSTON, Mass. (WWLP)– A woman who formerly worked for a Massachusetts housing agency has pleaded guilty to five counts of wire fraud in a Boston federal court.
Alihea Jones, 51, of Brandon, Florida, is accused of defrauding the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD).
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According to prosecutors, Jones worked at the DHCD remotely for 6 months in 2022, with the Residential Aid to Families in Transition (RAFT) program, which provides funds to assist low-income Massachusetts residents facing eviction and other housing emergencies. After being terminated from the job, she was still able to access the files of four RAFT program participants and authorized electronic payments to their landlords in the amounts of $7,500, $8,800, $6,925 and $10,000, but changed the routing and bank account numbers to her business, her personal account and that of two friends. After these transfers went through, each friend paid Jones a $2,000 kickback.