Woman Pleads Guilty in Housing Swindle

An Anaheim woman pleaded guilty Thursday to embezzling $83,000 in government money intended for poor tenants being displaced from their South Los Angeles homes--a swindle federal prosecutors said illustrates the kind of oversight that has mushroomed into the scandal at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Juanita Maria Tachvighi, 44, admitted that she stole HUD funds that should have been paid to 10 families who were being ousted from their apartments by a rehabilitation project, Assistant U.S. Atty. Adam Schiff said.

Tachvighi, who has agreed to repay the money, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles to five counts of embezzling federal funds and three counts of theft of government property. She faces up to 80 years in prison and a $2-million fine.

Tachvighi had contracted with a Los Angeles County agency to provide relocation services for the tenants whose apartment building had been targeted for renovation. But between July, 1986, and early 1988, according to Schiff, she funneled many of the agency’s checks into her own bank account, leaving tenants to struggle with debts and higher rents.