United States Attorney
District of Connecticut

PRESS RELEASE

April 29, 2008                       

EAST HAVEN HOUSING AUTHORITY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, HUSBAND, CHARGED WITH STEALING HUD PROGRAM FUNDS

Nora R. Dannehy, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, and Kenneth M. Donohue, Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Inspector General, today announced that CASSANDRA ASHE, 36, and her husband JONATHAN ASHE, 43, of North Haven, have been arrested pursuant to a criminal complaint charging them with conspiracy and theft from a program receiving federal funds. CASSANDRA ASHE is the Executive Director of the East Haven Housing Authority.

The affidavit in support of the criminal complaint alleges that CASSANDRA ASHE and JONATHAN ASHE have engaged in an ongoing scheme to steal money from a bank account used by the East Haven Housing Authority to administer the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program in East Haven. Under the program, qualifying low-income individuals receive assistance in obtaining rental housing on the private market from HUD. It is alleged that from approximately May 1, 2007 through March 2008, CASSANDRA ASHE and JONATHAN ASHE conspired to and did steal approximately $173,000 from the East Haven Housing Authority bank account through approximately 253 separate ATM withdrawals.

CASSANDRA ASHE and JONATHAN ASHE were arrested this morning. They appeared today before United States Magistrate Judge Thomas P. Smith in Hartford and were released on bonds in the amount of $200,000.

If convicted, CASSANDRA ASHE and JONATHAN ASHE each faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years and a fine of up to $250,000 on the charge of theft from a program receiving federal funds, and a maximum term of imprisonment of five years and a fine of up to $250,000 on the conspiracy charge.

Acting U.S. Attorney Dannehy stressed that a criminal complaint is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. The defendants are entitled to a fair trial at which it is the Government's burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

This matter was investigated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Inspector General, with the assistance of the United States Postal Inspection Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Susan Wines.