SPOKANE — A Spokane property management company operating apartments owned by a rapist while he’s in prison agreed to pay nearly $330,000 after admitting they fraudulently obtained hundreds of thousands of dollars in COVID-19 pandemic rental assistance.
All Star Property Management LLC and owner Gieve Parker were accused last year in federal court of falsely obtaining Treasury Rent Assistance Program funds, according to a news release from the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Washington.
The company admitted to falsifying applications resulting in overpayment of federal emergency rental assistance funds as part of the settlement and will pay $329,196.
“All-Star Property Management… used false and fraudulent information as part of a scheme targeting precious and limited rent assistance funds. As a result, they lined their pockets with money that should have been used to keep people in a safe, secure, affordable home during a deadly pandemic,” U.S. Attorney Amber Waldref, said in a statement. “Landlords and property management companies need to play by the rules. We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to hold accountable those who abuse critically important housing support programs.”
Many of the apartments managed by Parker were owned by Arlin Jordin, who remains in prison for drugging and raping a tenant.
Eight women have said they were drugged and raped by Jordin, and nearly a dozen more said they were drugged but escaped. Jordin was convicted on only one of the allegations, according to a 2005 story in The Spokesman-Review.
Jordin has continued to own multiple apartment buildings while in prison, despite tenant complaints about the condition of those buildings .
The money falsely obtained from the rental assistance program largely was sent to Jordin after a management fee was taken out, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
In 2021 and 2022, the management company sought funding for more than 30 tenants who were not eligible.
One of them, Krystal Jefferies, brought the complaint through the Northwest Justice Project. Jefferies herself will receive $68,000 of the settlement amount, along with $18,660 going to the Northwest Justice Project to cover attorney’s fees.
“Importantly, this case came out of Washington’s right-to-counsel program for indigent renters facing eviction,” Waldref said. “Equal access to justice in eviction defense is helping shine a light on these fraudulent practices in ways that was not possible before this important program existed. We will continue working with community and housing rights organizations like the Northwest Justice Project to hold landlords accountable when they put profits before tenant’s rights.”
