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KC and The Sunshine Band set to perform at Mohegan Sun Pocono Nov. 20.

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Breaking Clays for Kids Event to benefit The Children’s Center of Susquehanna and Wyoming Counties

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; The former owners of the Sherman Hills apartment complex will pay $125,000 to resolve allegations they pocketed funds meant for impoverished tenants, federal prosecutors announced Monday.</p><p>The utility reimbursement funds, provided by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to the apartment complex&#8217;s former Brooklyn, New York-based owners, Sherman Hills Realty and Park Management Inc., were to be disbursed to low- and no-income tenants at the Parkview Circle facility.</p><p>Instead, prosecutors allege, the owners kept portions of the funds. The alleged violations of the False Claims Act took place between April 2011 and April 2014, <a href="https://www.timesleader.com/archive/164081/news-local-news-news-1302385-section-8-contract-included-in-sale-of-sherman-hills" target="_blank">around the time New Jersey-based Treetop Development bought the complex from Sherman Hills Realty for $15.8 million</a>.</p><p>Prosecutors say the apartment complex&#8217;s former owners were required to submit utility reimbursement requests for qualifying tenants on monthly vouchers submitted to HUD. The owners were required to provide tenants with payments or credit the funds back to HUD. Sherman Hills Realty was not permitted to retain funds for utility assistance payments if the funds were not provided to the tenants, prosecutors say.</p><p>No one answered the phone at Park Management Inc.&#8217;s offices Monday afternoon. Their voice mailbox was full.</p><p>The U.S. Attorney&#8217;s Office says former tenants seeking information concerning utility reimbursement funds that may have been wrongfully withheld by Sherman Hills Realty and/or Park Management Inc. should contact the Philadelphia Regional Office of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 100 Penn Square East, Philadelphia, PA 19107 at 215-656-0500.</p><p>Archived reports show HUD inspected the troubled complex in 2013 in response to <a href="https://www.timesleader.com/uncategorized/10875/judge-refuses-to-dismiss-charges-in-sherman-hills-shootings-89" target="_blank">the shootings of Janiya McFarland, then 5, and Gabrielle Morris, then 2</a>, and was critical of the management and the lax oversight that exposed tenants to life-threatening security issues.</p><p>According to a 20-page HUD report released to The Times Leader in November 2013, a<a href="https://www.timesleader.com/archive/284121/news-local-news-1001665-hud-sherman-hills-issues-life-threatening" target="_blank"> two-day inspection of six buildings revealed defunct surveillance cameras, more than half of exterior lighting not turned on, broken windows and overgrown vegetation.</a></p><p>Inspectors also reviewed the finances at the complex, determining that management may not be operating the property with generally-accepted accounting principals.</p><p>HUD further found &#8220;errors and omissions&#8221; by management in processing tenant applications and, overall, gave the apartment complex an &#8220;unsatisfactory&#8221; ranking for its management operations.</p><p>The agency <a href="https://www.timesleader.com/archive/241082/news-local-news-news-50952147-sherman-hills-sold-no-homicides-on-property-last-year" target="_blank">inspected Sherman Hills in October 2014 and gave it a passing grade</a>, bolstered by the addition of a chain link fence and new cameras.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Federal prosecutors say Sherman Hills Realty, the former manager of the Wilkes-Barre apartment complex, failed to provide qualifying tenants with utility reimbursement funds and instead kept the funds for themselves. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_Sherman-Hills-Sept-2013-4.jpg</photo0><caption0>Federal prosecutors say Sherman Hills Realty, the former manager of the Wilkes-Barre apartment complex, failed to provide qualifying tenants with utility reimbursement funds and instead kept the funds for themselves. </caption0><photoCredit0>Times Leader file photo </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_Sherman-Hills-Toned-BlackWhite.jpg">
<div class="neCaption"></div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_Sherman-Hills-Toned-BlackWhite.jpg</photo1><caption1></caption1><photoCredit1>Times Leader file photo </photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>NY-based firms allegedly pocketed funds; will pay $125K</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Joe Dolinsky</p><p>jdolinsky@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Joe Dolinsky at 570-991-6110 or on Twitter @JoeDolinskyTL.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Former Sherman Hills owners agree to settle claims they kept federal funds