San Francisco man with $2.4 million house got subsidized rent

(The Center Square) - Gregory Finkelson received a one-year prison sentence for theft of government property because of his fraudulent receipt of hundreds of thousands of dollars in low-income housing benefits in San Francisco, according to the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California.

The Honorable James Donato, United States District Judge, imposed the sentence last week.

The Section 8 Certificate Program is a HUD-funded rent subsidy program; the San Francisco Housing Authority administers the program in San Francisco, California.

"The program is intended to help low- and moderate-income families afford housing, and it has income limits and other eligibility requirements that applicants must meet to qualify for assistance," a release explained.

As a part of his plea agreement, the 64-year-old Finkelson admitted that from August 2006 to February 2020, he wrongfully claimed $341,455 worth of Section 8 Program subsidies because he lied and said he did not own his San Francisco residence; he bought the property via a straw purchaser and claimed he was an employee of a company that he owned and operated out of the home.

Finkelson admitted to using the name of a Russian national living in Russia to buy his San Francisco home. He also claimed that this Russian was the landlord and that he paid rent to her. Plus, Finkelson admitted to operating several bank accounts, including one in the Russian's name. He confessed to using these accounts to conceal the Section 8 subsidies he obtained. He used this money to fund his business, pay off credit card bills, and make payments on a Hawaiian timeshare.

His San Francisco home is now worth $2.4 million.

In a memorandum for the sentencing, the government said that Finkelson kept up his fraudulent conduct even after SFHA acted to kill his Section 8 subsidies. The government contended that his conduct deprived families in need of housing. It also said that his actions hurt public trust, including trust in the government handling people's tax dollars.

Judge Donato also sentenced Finkelson to three years of supervision following his one-year prison sentence, plus $341,455 in restitution; that is the amount he admitted to stealing from the government.