(The Center Square) – Federal authorities have accused a Spokane-based company, All Star Property Management LLC, and its owner for falsely claiming it provided hundreds of thousands of dollars in financial assistance to struggling renters during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a civil complaint filed Monday in U.S. District Court, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Washington alleged that All Star Property and owner Gieve Parker had violated the “False Claims Act” by obtaining federal relief dollars for more than two dozen tenants who were not behind on rent payments between 2021 and 2022.  

Authorities also alleged that All Star and Parker falsely inflated rent amounts above what tenants were actually paying, and requested relief funding for former tenants who no longer resided in properties managed by the company, which typically collected between 8.5% and 10% in management fees.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office alleged that Parker and her company “knowingly … submitted more than forty false and fraudulent rental assistance applications for tenants” under the federal Emergency Rental Assistance Program. The program was enacted by Congress during the pandemic to provide funds to benefit struggling renters who had fallen behind on payments due to unemployment or other hardship.

“Landlords and property management companies need to play by the rules, especially when they claim precious and limited rent assistance funds intended to protect members of the community struggling under the weight of a deadly pandemic,” U.S. Attorney Vanessa R. Waldref said in a press release. “We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to hold accountable those who abuse critically-important housing support programs.” 

The complaint also names a third defendant, Arlin R. Jordin, who was serving a state prison sentence for drugging and raping a prospective tenant during the relevant time period. Authorities say Jordin owned five rental properties managed by the company, which shared rental income with him while he was serving time at the Coyote Ridge Corrections Center, a minimum-security facility located in Connell, Washington. The company terminated its property management contract with Jordin in February 2022.

Jordin has not been indicted on any criminal charges related to the pending civil case, but he remains incarcerated on other charges, said Rob Curry, a public affairs specialist with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, in an emailed reply Wednesday to The Center Square.

The civil case was originally brought in April 2022 by the Northwest Justice Project, Washington’s largest legal aid organization, on behalf of Krystal Jeffries, a former tenant in a property owned by Jordin and managed by All Star. Jeffries filed a whistleblower complaint, alleging the defendants violated the False Claims Act by seeking emergency rental assistance when she was no longer a tenant and owed no rent.

Under the False Claims Act, whistleblowers may file an action in federal court and investigators determine whether to intervene. The U.S. Department of Justice filed a notice of intervention in October 2022. The act allows the federal government to recover up to three times the damages caused by the defendant, plus additional penalties for each false claim or statement. If a recovery is obtained, it is generally shared with the whistleblower.

The government is seeking a jury trial against Parker and All Star Properties for three counts of violating the False Claims Act, which could result in treble damages and other civil penalties. Parker, her company, and Jordin also face three civil violations of “payment by mistake, unjust enrichment, and negligence,” which could include repayment plus interest and related costs.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Tyler Tornabene, Jake Brooks, and Dan Fruchter are prosecuting the case, which was investigated by the FBI’s Spokane Resident Office. 

In Washington, the federal relief funding was called the Treasury Rent Assistance Program and administered by state and local governments. T-RAP was overseen in Spokane by an organization called LiveStories, also known as FORWARD, under a contract with the City of Spokane and the Washington Department of Commerce.