A Maryland woman dubbed "Robin HUD" by federal investigators says she embezzled as much as $5.5 million from the Department of Housing and Urban Development to give to the poor.
HUD Secretary Jack Kemp was described Sunday as being "very upset" by the losses, which according to The Washington Post could reach $10 million in the Washington field office alone because of extraordinarily lax bookkeeping involving foreclosure sales of government property.Kemp ordered HUD Inspector General Paul Adams to conduct an immediate investigation of the embezzlement charges in the Washington office, and on Friday he placed four employees on leave without pay, Frank Keating, HUD's general counsel-designee, said in an interview Sunday.
The New York Times said investigations also were under way in HUD offices in Denver, Houston, New Orleans and Los Angeles about million-dollar diversions.
Marilyn Harrell, a private escrow agent in Maryland who's known as "Robin HUD," said she was able to divert $5.5 million during a four-year period to help feed, clothe and house the poor.
She said Monday she realized she was breaking the law and she is prepared to go to jail. "I was amazed it went on as long as it did. But people kept coming for help and we had access to the monies and no one seemed to be particularly concerned . . . ," she said on ABC's "Good Morning America."
"I figured that as long as I was going to go to jail anyway, I would help a few people with the time I had left," the 46-year-old Temple Hills, Md., resident told the Times.