Ohio company owner ordered to pay over $90K for fraud ( www.wdtn.com )

Antoine Draines, 43, operated Freedom for Living Property Management, LLC in Tipp City. The company owned and served as landlord for numerous rental properties in Dayton.

From June 2020 until December 2020, Draines lied to the Miami Valley Community Action Partnership so that he could improperly collect emergency rental assistance money for properties, according to a release from Kenneth Parker, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio.

In addition, Draines fraudulently applied for and received Pandemic Unemployment Assistance benefits from the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services and collected approximately $30,000, the release states. He pleaded guilty to wire fraud in March 2023.

Draines sent false landlord statement forms concealing the critical fact that certain tenants were already having a substantial portion of their rent paid through federally funded housing vouchers, the release states.