Former NJ Councilman Lied About Income To Keep $92-a-month Section 8 Apartment, State Charges

An investigation began after Penns Grove Gardens sought to evict Carl Washington Jr. for subletting to a tenant arrested at the apartment for drugs, Acting New Jersey Attorney General Andrew J. Bruck said Tuesday.

Investigators from Bruck’s Office of Public Integrity and Accountability Corruption Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Inspector General learned that Washington “falsely reported his income,” Bruck said.

The actual amount made him ineligible for subsidized housing, the attorney general said.

Washington paid $92 a month for the apartment in 2017 and 2018 based on his annual income as a councilman while failing to report two other jobs he held at the time, Bruck said.

Had he done so, “his monthly rent would have increased to $494 in 2017 and $760 in 2018,” the attorney general said.

All told, Washington short-changed the federal government $14,385, he said.

State authorities issued the three-term councilman a summons on Tuesday charging him with theft by deception, Bruck said.

“Section 8 housing assistance is meant to lift up low-income families by subsidizing rent,” he said. “We will not tolerate fraudulent acts that undermine the program by diverting needed funds.”

Deputy Attorney General Jonathan Gilmore is handling the case for the government.

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