Chicago Residents Charged in HUD, Social Security Fraud

Fifteen people are facing federal charges Thursday of defrauding the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development out of hundreds of thousands of dollars in benefits.

The defendants, who live in Chicago and several suburbs, include 12 current or former federal employees - 11 of them with the U.S. Postal Service, one with the Transportation Security Administration, according to the U.S. Attorney's office.

They are accused of defrauding HUD out of rent subsidies and public housing benefits, and in some of the cases, defrauding the Social Security Administration out of benefits, according to the U.S. Attorney's office. They did so by lying about their income, thus receiving benefits that they otherwise would not have earned at all, or would have received at much lower levels, the U.S. Attorney's office said.

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