NEWARK, N.J., Feb. 16 (UPI) -- The federal government has told the Newark Housing Department that almost $7 million was paid to New Jersey's largest city without proper documentation.
The audit by the Department of Housing and Urban Development found that there was no documentation that residents of housing projects received the police and health services the money supposedly provided, the New York Times reported.
Kenneth Donohue, HUD's inspector general, told the Times that the housing authority could not provide signed agreements.
"The Newark Housing Authority was a troubled housing authority to begin with, and what this audit indicates to me is that at best, there was very poor record keeping," he said.
The payments were made in 2001 and 2002 with the largest occurring just before Mayor Sharpe James was elected to a fifth term.
"Who was running the housing authority? Was it Sharpe James?" Councilman Luis Quintana asked.
HUD said that the money must be spent on housing.
