L.I. Housing Official Pinched For Allegedly Creating Fictitious Landlord With No Actual Tenant To Illegally Pocket $120K In Section 8 Rental Benefits

From the Office of the U.S. Attorney (Central Islip, New York):

• Federal law enforcement agents [] arrested Louis Abate, the former Fiscal Director for the Nassau County Office of Housing and Community Development (from 2004 to 2012), in connection with a scheme to steal federal housing benefits intended for low-income Long Islanders in need of housing financial assistance.

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• As charged in the complaint, between May 2009 and August 2011 Abate stole more than $120,000 in federal Section 8 rental subsidies from a Section 8 program he oversaw that serviced individuals residing in Island Park, New York.
  
  Abate allegedly created a fictitious landlord with no associated tenant, and for more than two years diverted federal Section 8 benefits for this supposed landlord to a bank account Abate personally controlled.
  
  As further set forth in the complaint, during this period Abate was successful in illegally paying himself approximately $5,000 per month – more than three times the monthly amount of federal Section 8 subsidies received by any single participating landlord in the Island Park area.

For the U.S. Attorney press release, see Former Nassau County Housing Official Arrested for Theft Of Government Funds (Louis Abate Allegedly Stole More Than $120,000 in Federal Section 8 Housing Benefits Earmarked for Low-Income Long Islanders).