Exclusive | Feds must probe NYC Public Advocate Jumaane Williams for possible mortgage fraud: pol
The feds and the city must probe whether NYC Public Advocate Jumaane Williams committed mortgage fraud and broke other laws in light of “serious” red flags surrounding his troubled ownership of a Brooklyn property that ended in foreclosure, a fellow Democrat demanded this week.Councilman Robert Holden (D-Queens) fired off letters Monday to Federal Housing Finance Director William Pulte and NYC Department of Investigation Commissioner Jocelyn Strauber in the wake of The Post’s exclusive last week revealing how the socialist pol lost a two-family home in Canarsie to Bank of America after he stopped paying the mortgage and racked up nearly $1 million in debt over 15 years.Holden in both letters said public records suggest Williams misrepresented his financial situation for years by collecting rent from multiple tenants living on the property while simultaneously being delinquent on a federally backed mortgage.“If Mr.
Williams misrepresented his financial position, rental income, or occupancy status in mortgage applications or ongoing certifications, he may have violated federal statutes governing mortgage fraud and bank fraud,” Holden wrote Pulte.“This matter is particularly troubling given Mr.Williams’ prominent role in publicly criticizing landlords through the City’s “Worst Landlords Watchlist” while allegedly engaging in similar misconduct himself.
The apparent hypocrisy, combined with the scale of financial mismanagement and possible deception, undermines public confidence in elected leadership.”Williams – who earns $184,000 annually and collected thousands of dollars a year renting the home to multiple tenants – stopped making his $1,344 monthly mortgage payments in 2010, according to records.Holden in his letter to Strauber questioned whether Williams broke New York law by “knowingly making false statements” in his annual financial disclosure filings.Williams, who served as a Brooklyn councilman from 2010 to March 2019 before bei...