Former Housing Authority Executive Director Gets 48 Months In Prison For Pocketing Approx. $1.5 Million In Palm Grease In Exchange For The Awarding Of Business & Contracts, & Failure To Pay Income Tax On Illegal Payments

From the Office of the U.S. Attorney (Hartford, Connecticut):

• [M]ICHAEL SIWEK, 56, of North Haven, was sentenced [...] in Hartford to 48 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for receiving approximately $1.5 million in bribes while serving as the executive director of the West Haven Housing Authority, and for failing to pay taxes on the illegal income.
  
  According to court documents and statements made in court, [...] SIWEK was the executive director of the West Haven Housing Authority (“WHHA”), an agency that received federal funding. As parties of his duties, SIWEK had substantial discretion over awarding WHHA business and contracts. From approximately February 2007 through February 2012, SIWEK received approximately $1.5 million in payments from individuals in exchange for the awarding of business and contracts with the WHHA and entities that the WHHA controlled.
  
  SIWEK received these bribes through wire transfers and check payments to himself individually, and to Four Star Development Company LLC, a limited liability corporation that he controlled. SIWEK also received payments that were characterized as “loans,” but which were not subject to any terms or conditions typically associated with commercial loans.
  
  In addition, SIWEK did not report these payments to the IRS, and filed false tax returns that underreported his income and tax liability.
  
  Judge Shea ordered SIWEK to pay restitution in the amount of $1,503,096.91, and back taxes, penalties and interest totaling more than $363,000.

Source: Former West Haven Housing Authority Director Sentenced to Prison for Receiving $1.5 Million in Bribes.