By admin 
A Columbia Housing Authority official accused of stealing over $20,000 has been indicted by a federal grand jury and charged with embezzling federal dollars meant to help Richland County families pay their rent.
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Federal prosecutors allege that between September 2024 and May 2025, Earnest Eugene Brown knowingly stole payments to the Columbia Housing Authority from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, embezzled money meant for rental assistance, and committed identity theft, according to an indictment filed in U.S. District Court July 21.
Brown is described as an agent of the housing authority. The State has contacted the housing authority for a statement and for information on Brown’s employment status. An Earnest Brown had previously been listed online as the agency’s interim vice president of the housing choice voucher department. His name has since been removed from that webpage, according to the internet archive.
Brown had not made a court appearance as of July 23, and a hearing date had not been set, a spokesperson with the U.S. Attorney’s Office confirmed.
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Brown’s charges include “willfully and knowingly” stealing over $1,000 in payments to the local housing authority from the federal housing department. Brown also is charged with having “embezzled, stole, obtained by fraud, and intentionally misapplied” at least $5,000 meant for the housing authority to put toward rental assistance.
The third count alleges Brown used someone else’s identification “during and in relation to a felony.”
If Brown is convicted, prosecutors are seeking forfeiture of approximately $20,340, which the indictment describes as the minimum amount of proceeds he allegedly obtained from the offenses.
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