From Dan Tepfer, CT Examiner:
A former manager of the Success Village low-income housing complex on the Bridgeport/Stratford line pleaded guilty Thursday to conspiring with others to divert hundreds of thousands of dollars in tenant’s money to themselves.
Charles Pitcher, of Trumbull, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. He could face up to 20 years in prison and have to pay $2.5 million in restitution. His lawyer, Frank Riccio II, declined to comment.
Sources involved in the investigation told CT Examiner that more arrests are forthcoming.
Pitcher, who also owns a real estate company, was hired in May 2022 by Success Village’s then-President Tyreke Bird after Bird fired the former company that managed the housing complex.
By September 2024, the 924-unit complex was in dire straits. Most of the units, which are individually owned, were without heat and hot water; Bridgeport, Stratford and the utility companies were suing for unpaid taxes and bills; millions of dollars in fees paid monthly by apartment owners could not be accounted for; and the complex’s board was in disarray.
A forensic audit later completed by the New Haven firm CBIZ determined that Bird had made $2 million in withdrawals from the co-op’s bank accounts, which were not recorded in the co-op’s financial books. The audit also found $9 million that could not be verified as being used for co-op business purposes.
Full story here
https://www.justice.gov/usao-ct/pr/two-men-admit-roles-success-village-apartments-embezzlement-conspiracy?fbclid=IwdGRjcAUaZMNjbGNrBRpiFHBkb2YFZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQMMzUwNjg1NTMxNzI4AAEeaZ4dAyHqzff_Se8nsMEKd-mTJtRZlgPkRRWf0UXn5RTyB5QnH9qLJ5E-ZFw_aem_x9mKw_up5T65eYqKyrUa-g
Sounds like a really unholy conspiracy, involving very big bucks, between elements of the board and their hand-picked “management company.” Looks like some of these culprits may face major prison time. (What kind of people would deliberately jeopardize the housing of thousands of modest income people?!) With all of the money involved here, and with indications that there might have also been a separate motive to manipulate the Success real estate market, it would seem that thoroughly investigating the whole sordid mess could lead to some interesting places and characters…
One has to wonder how many other condominium associations in Bridgeport (in regard to a relevant city of focus) might also be in the throes of unscrupulous boards and management lining their pockets and lining up lucrative real estate deals in a hot real estate market… (Can’t help but wonder about the implications of Bridgeport’s large tax increase this fiscal year in this regard — when the city should be striving to cut taxes on its overtaxed, underserved populace…)