The Dallas Housing Authority (DHA) responded to a recent report by The Dallas Express that highlighted a fraud case involving one of its former supervisors. This individual was sentenced to federal prison and ordered to pay nearly $500,000 in restitution.
In a statement provided to The Dallas Express on June 1, DHA officials said the agency’s internal safeguards and checkpoints uncovered the fraud scheme and that no housing program participants lost access to affordable housing as a result of the theft.
“We applaud our federal agencies for supporting DHA in this investigation and bringing the case to resolution. Our collaboration has resulted in restitution of funds that were stolen and time in prison for the perpetrator,” the DHA told The Dallas Express. “We want to make it clear that the stolen funds did not impact our program participants’ ability to access affordable housing programs. Stolen funds were from a specific construction and maintenance budget allocation.”
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, former DHA maintenance supervisor Joel Ipina, 50, was sentenced on May 21 to two years in federal prison after pleading guilty to stealing nearly $500,000 in federal housing funds over roughly five years. Ipina reportedly steered a collection of lucrative maintenance contracts to a company he secretly owned, submitted fake competing bids to make his firm appear most qualified, and, in some instances, billed the DHA for work that was never performed.
According to the DHA, the fraud was not discovered by outside investigators – it was caught from the inside.
“This case of stolen public funds by a former maintenance staff member was identified through our internal controls and we engaged an independent auditor to confirm the suspicious activity,” the DHA added. “Once the comprehensive audit determined that fraud was in fact being committed, we reported the matter to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Inspector General, which referred the case to the U.S. Department of Justice.”
As a result, the DOJ secured Ipina’s conviction and a restitution order of $473,641.
“DHA has zero tolerance for fraud,” officials told The Dallas Express. “We will continue to be vigilant.”
DOJ officials initially zeroed in on the “real-world damage” – vulnerable Dallas residents whose housing funds were diverted, and legitimate contractors who never got a fair shot at those bids. The DHA, by contrast, focused more on internal review processes, claiming that its fraud checks and controls worked, that it moved fast, and that it cooperated fully with federal investigators.
Of note, Ipina spent nearly three decades at the agency, the last five of which – from August 2019 through February 2024 – he reportedly spent systematically rigging contracts in his favor.
Anyone who suspects fraud connected to DHA or its programs can file a tip directly at https://dhantx.com/report-fraud/.
