Woman charged with scamming Chicago Housing Authority out of $136K

A woman was charged Friday with scamming the Chicago Housing Authority out of roughly $136,000 over a decade.

Catherine Brown, 48, was accused of falsifying information on official CHA documents and collecting subsidized rent even though she was the joint owner of a CHA property, according to the Illinois Attorney General's Office.

Brown was charged with theft of government property over $100,000, which is punishable by up to 30 years in prison, and three counts of forgery.

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"For years, Ms. Brown defrauded the CHA Housing Choice Voucher program and received over $100,000 in voucher payments to live in a house she owned," Kathryn Richards, Inspector General at the Chicago Housing Authority, said in a statement. "We aggressively pursue fraud, waste, and abuse of CHA’s housing programs to ensure these precious resources reach those who truly need it."

Brown was accused of omitting a household member and their income on official CHA documents. The Illinois Attorney General's Office also said she omitted her ownership interest to illegally collect CHA benefits.

Bond was set for Brown at $5,000.