Two prominent developers have plead guilty to federal fraud charges for stealing millions of tax-payer dollars intended for low-income housing developments.
Jay Weaver reports on the unfolding federal prosecution "of an elaborate affordable-housing racket that cost taxpayers $36 million." To summarize the fraud: Michael Cox and Gonzalo DeRamon, co-founders of the Biscayne Housing Group, conspired with the top two principals of the Carlisle Development Group ("once the state’s biggest affordable housing developer," according to Weaver) as well as two South Florida contractors who already pleaded guilty.
Weaver's original report broke the news that Cox and deRamon intended to plead guilty. In an updated post, Weaver notes that "[c]ombined, Cox and DeRamon pocketed between $7 million and $9.5 million in illegal kickbacks from contractors in their Miami-Dade affordable-housing developments."
Weaver's reports provide more details about the reach of the conspiracy.
FULL STORY: Feds: Miami developers, contractor to plead guilty in $36 million affordable-housing scam

Alabama: Trump Terminates Settlements for Black Communities Harmed By Raw Sewage
Trump deemed the landmark civil rights agreement “illegal DEI and environmental justice policy.”

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

The 120 Year Old Tiny Home Villages That Sheltered San Francisco’s Earthquake Refugees
More than a century ago, San Francisco mobilized to house thousands of residents displaced by the 1906 earthquake. Could their strategy offer a model for the present?

Ken Jennings Launches Transit Web Series
The Jeopardy champ wants you to ride public transit.

BLM To Rescind Public Lands Rule
The change will downgrade conservation, once again putting federal land at risk for mining and other extractive uses.

Indy Neighborhood Group Builds Temporary Multi-Use Path
Community members, aided in part by funding from the city, repurposed a vehicle lane to create a protected bike and pedestrian path for the summer season.
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