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Rockland County resident Victor Rivera, age 62, of Stony Point, the former head of the Bronx Parent Housing Network, has been sentenced to 27 months in prison for conspiring to commit honest services fraud.
US Attorney Damian Williams said that the Bronx Parent Housing Network operates soup kitchens, homeless shelters, and affordable-housing facilities in New York City, and while acting as CEO, Rivera admitted to enriching himself through bribes and kickbacks through the organization’s contractors.
According to court filings and statements made in court, while serving as president and CEO of the Bronx Parent Housing Network - which spends millions annually in public funds on real estate, security, cleaning, construction, and food expenses, among other costs related to the housing and social services - Rivera schemed for nearly a decade to live a life of luxury through his scheme.
Rivera admitted that between 2013 and 2020, he used the scheme to “enrich himself and his relatives by soliciting and accepting bribes and kickbacks from contractors doing work related to or for the Bronx Parent Housing Network.”
In total, the scheme net Rivera and his family hundreds of thousands of dollars, according to prosecutors.
“Victor Rivera abused his position of authority at a non-profit established to help the most vulnerable in order to line his own pockets,” Williams said. “For this egregious violation of trust, he is now sentenced to prison.”
In addition to his prison term, Rivera was also sentenced to two years of supervised release and ordered to forfeit $1,249,158.93 and pay the Bronx Parent Housing Network $902,269.23 in restitution.
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