Former Chairman Of Rochester Housing Authority Facing Additional Charges In Superseding Indictment
ROCHESTER, N.Y. – RealEstateRama – U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that a federal grand jury has returned a 28-count superseding indictment charging George H. Moses, 50, of Rochester, NY, with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft. The conspiracy and wire fraud charges carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, while the aggravated identity theft charge carries a mandatory consecutive term of two years in prison. In May 2018, the defendant was charged in a two-count indictment for making false statements to the FBI. Those charges are also part of the superseding indictment, and carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard A. Resnick, who is handling the case, stated that according to the superseding indictment, the new charges involve alleged schemes to defraud Quad A for Kids and Rochester Housing Charities.
Moses is the Executive Director of North East Area Development Association (NEAD) in Rochester, a not-for-profit neighborhood organization governed by a volunteer board of directors, which worked with city officials and agencies to revitalize and stabilize the Sector 8 neighborhood in the northeast quadrant of Rochester. The defendant was also the Chairman of the Board of Commissioners of the Rochester Housing Authority (RHA) until 2018, and a member of the board of directors of the Rochester Housing Charities (RHC) from March 2015 to 2017.
Former Rochester City Councilmember Adam McFadden was the Executive Director of Quad A for Kids, which provided after-school and extended-day learning programs at some elementary schools in the Rochester City School District. The organization operated as an entity separate from the Rochester City School District and received funding from the Rochester Area Community Foundation Initiatives Inc. (RACF). Quad A for Kids shared some of the RACF’s administrative staff but employed its own executive director, executive assistant, and program staff. McFadden also owned Caesar Development LLC, a limited liability company located in Rochester.
Moses is accused of conspiring with Adam McFadden to defraud Quad A for Kids and the RACF. In August 2017, and February 2018, McFadden created two false invoices stating that Quad A for Kids owed NEAD $4,000 for purported training and other services NEAD provided on behalf of Quad A for Kids at various Rochester City schools. Moses and McFadden fraudulently caused the RACF, on behalf of Quad A for Kids, to pay NEAD $8,000, knowing that services were never provided. McFadden then created two invoices which falsely stated that NEAD owed his company Caesar Development LLC a total of $7,000 for purported consultation services Caesar Development LLC provided to NEAD. In fact, Caesar Development LLC did not provided such consultation services to NEAD. Earlier this month, McFadden pled guilty in federal court for his role in the Quad A for Kids fraud and is awaiting sentencing.
Moses is also charged with defrauding the RHC by causing the RHC to overpay the RHC’s Executive Director’s salary and to make other payments to the Executive Director to which the Executive Director was not entitled. The defendant then received a portion of the funds which were overpaid to the Executive Director, either in the form of a cash payment or a wire transfer to a bank account controlled by Moses. Specifically, between January 2018 and September 2019, the defendant caused the RHC to pay to the RHC’s Executive Director $500 in salary every two weeks to which the Executive Director was not entitled. Moses then caused $380 from each fraudulent payment to be transferred to the defendant’s bank account without the knowledge of the Executive Director.
“As alleged in the superseding indictment, Mr. Moses, a public servant, unlawfully sought to divert public money to himself,” noted U.S. Attorney Kennedy. “This Office, together with our partners in law enforcement, will remain vigilant in our efforts to bring to justice all of those, like the defendant, who decide to betray the public trust in order to line their own pockets.”
The superseding indictment is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Rochester Office, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Gary Loeffert; the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Inspector General, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Brad Geary; and the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigations Division, under the direction of Jonathan D. Larsen, Special Agent-in-Charge, New York Field Office.
The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
