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Local
Fraud Allegations Lead To HART Terminating
Bank Mortgage Helps
One Manager; Second One Resigns
Potential Homebuyers
BY LEON B. CREWS Sentinel Staff Writer
After the discovery of the activities of two of their high level managers, HART put them on administrative leave. After the conclusion of their investigation, one of the managers resigned and the other was terminated.
Ebony Clemons began working for HART five years ago and was its risk manager. She was in charge of evaluat- ing workers compensation claims, and that gave her ac- cess to employees’ social se- curity numbers private medical information, and she also investigated fraud and criminal activity within the agency.
In January, Clemons was charged with the felony charge of public assistance fraud. Court records indicate from 2013 to 2015, Clemons failed to report her employ- ment while collecting more than $14,000 in excess food stamp benefits.
HART investigators said in her food stamp applica- tions, Clemons never men- tioned she worked for HART. Her position with the com- pany paid her $74,000-a- year. Since January, she had been working as risk man- ager.
HART spokesperson, Sandra Morrison, said everything was fine until
With Down Payments
EBONY CLEMONS HART CEO, Katharine
Eagan received a booking photo of Clemons on her private Twitter account in April.
“That’s when an investi- gation began with us, and we found out about the fraud,” said Morrison.
HART then placed Clemons on paid adminis- trative leave.
The investigation revealed Clemons notified Dara Ch- enevert in January, but Ch- enevert never reported it to her supervisors.
Chenevert was earning in excess of $115,000-a-year and was supposed to be look- ing out for the safety of em- ployees in her interim role as chief business enterprise and safety officer.
Prior to that, Chenevert was HART’s Director of Human Resources.
Although Clemons has been terminated, officials at
DARA CHENEVERT
HART are looking at any pos- sible cases that may have been compromised under Clemons’ review.
Morrison said Chenev- ert resigned a month ago.
“It was mutually agreed that she resign. During the investigation of Chenevert, some other issues were dis- covered.
“The problem with Clemons is she didn’t report the food stamp fraud incident to her immediate supervisor, so it never made it to Ms. Eagan’s office.”
Morrison said because of the responsibilities that came with Clemons’ job, they had no choice but to ter- minate her employment.
“On the welfare fraud issue, the state had suggested putting her on a program so she could pay off her debt, but something fell apart with the agreement and they with- drew the offer.”
Fifth Third Mortgage is in- troducing its new Down Pay- ment Assistance Program to help consumers purchase homes.
Fifth Third’s Down Pay- ment Assistance Program of- fers 3 percent of the purchase price in down payment assis- tance, up to $3,600, for low- income borrowers or those purchasing in a designated low-income area and financed through Fifth Third.
The program is paired with the Freddie Mac Home Possi- ble Advantage Mortgage, a product with a 3 percent down payment and reduced mort- gage insurance premiums.
Fifth Third’s program also can be combined with state and local programs to help consumers take advantage of free money for their
down payments.
Five Mistakes Consumers Make
(1) Passing up help; (2) Be- lieving you make too much money to qualify; (3) Thinking you don’t have enough money for a down payment; (4) Cling- ing to outdated ideas on clos- ing timelines; and (5) Relying on a one-size-fits-all loan.
Tips For Homebuyers
Make sure to research pro- grams in your region. The eas- iest way to see if you qualify is to work with your mortgage loan originator to see which programs work for you.
Look at programs that help pay closing costs on homes purchased in designated low- income areas.
Work with your mortgage loan originator to see which programs can help you qualify.
Be patient. All of the changes are made to help you better understand the mort- gage terms.
The Hillsborough County
Democratic Black Caucus To
Host 2016 Candidates Forum
As voters, there is no greater opportunity to meet the candidates and ask them questions than the Hillsbor- ough County Democratic Black Caucus’ 2016 Candi- dates Forum.
With the slogan, “Educa- tion Equals Empowerment,” on July 16th at 11:15 a.m., vot- ers will get a chance to face-off against candidates seeking of- fice before the elections in Au- gust.
The forum will be held at Beulah Baptist Institutional Church, 1006 West Cypress Street.
The following races have been invited to attend the forum and have confirmed:
Hillsborough County School Board District 5 (11:15 a. m.)
Florida State Senate District 18 (11:35 a.m.)
Hillsborough County Commissioners (All)
Hillsborough County School Board District 1 & 3 (12:20 p.m.)
Hillsborough County Clerk of Circuit Court (12:45 p. m.)
U. S. Congress (1:05 p. m.)
Florida State Senate District 19 (1:45 p. m.)
Hillsborough County School Board District 7 (2:15 p. m.)
State Attorney (2:40 p. m.)
Florida House of Rep- resentative District 61 (3:10 p. m.)
Florida State House Representative District 59 (3:40 p.m.)
Florida House of Rep- resentative District 63 (4:05 p. m.)
It’s time for voters to de- cide who would be the best person to represent the well- being of their children on the School Board, and to ask if everyone is going to keep things the same status quo, or do the kids need something new.
Transportation is only one part of the problem within the Black community. People need to attend this forum to see who really speaks to the is- sues of Blacks for the County Commission race.
When it comes to the State Attorney race, the judicial sys- tem has never been fair to the community, so who will be the candidate to map out a plan of fairness?
The Hillsborough County Democratic Black caucus is standing with the community to make the candidates/elected officials accountable. Refreshments will be served.
PAGE 2-B FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY FRIDAY, JULY 15, 2016