Australia Gonzalez, 65, is potentially facing a steep prison sentence after city investigators found a wild scheme she took part in. According to the case against her, prosecutors allege that her scheme was conducted from more than 1k miles away from the subsidized Bronx apartment in question.
The Lowdown
A Bronx elderly woman is facing serious trouble this week after prosecutors say she engaged in a section 8 rental scam while living outside of the state of New York.  Â
The woman Australia Gonzalez, 65, allegedly committed the rental scam between 2019 and 2024 and even filed affadavits with city authorities that claimed she was unemployed thus making her eligible for federally subsidized rental assistance. Prosecutors allege she eventually racked up $50,000+ in subsidzed rent payments towards the apartment despite not living there.
But none of that was actually true at least what she told authorities. Per the same case, she was actually living in Hialeah, Florida more than 1k miles away while still collecting rent from subletters in her subsidized apartment back in New York City — all the while maintaining to authorities that she was making all of $24 a year. Court records show that the scam started in November 2019 when one tenant began paying $800/month in rent.
But it didn’t stop there. Records show a second subletter moved in April 2022 and paid between $750-$800 a month in rent. Gonzalez pleaded not guilty in Bronx Criminal Court on Thursday to a bevy of charges including grand larceny. She was later released without bail and is due back in court in May.
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