The U.S. attorney’s office has issued a criminal subpoena to the D.C. Housing Authority seeking documents pertaining to former board chair Neil Albert and the owner of an architecture firm who is his companion, according to an internal Housing Authority email obtained by The Washington Post.
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The email, from Housing Authority interim general counsel Andrea Powell, was sent Thursday to members of the board, including Dionne Bussey-Reeder — Mayor Muriel E. Bowser’s (D) choice to replace Albert after his resignation last month — and John Falcicchio, deputy mayor for planning and economic development who serves as an ex officio member of the board.
“I wanted to advise that yesterday DCHA received a criminal subpoena from the US Attorney’s Office with respect to Neil Albert and Moya Design Partners (as well as Moya in her individual capacity as well as related entities),” Powell wrote. “This subpoena is a request for documents.”
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A spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office declined to comment, as did Tony Robinson, a Housing Authority spokesman. Albert and his attorney, Frederick Cooke Jr., did not immediately respond to text messages seeking comment. Mark Touhey, an attorney representing Paola Moya, the owner of Moya Design Partners, declined to comment.
The Washington City Paper first reported the existence of the subpoena Friday.
Albert resigned as chair of the Housing Authority board on Oct. 14 after published reports revealed that he had approved contracts for Moya Design Partners without disclosing his relationship with Moya.
Jeffrey Anderson’s article on the website District Dig reported that Albert in 2018 authorized a $305,000 contract for Moya’s firm to produce a master plan for the redevelopment of the Housing Authority’s Capper-Carrollsburg property. Anderson also reported that Albert in June voted in favor of a board resolution identifying Moya’s firm as among those eligible for millions of dollars in contracts.
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Albert and Moya are listed as the owners of two properties together — one in the District and the other in North Carolina, according to property records.
Bowser, who on Thursday announced she is seeking a third term, appointed Albert to the Housing Authority board in 2017, then renominated him in 2019.
In both cases, the D.C. Council confirmed his appointment, though on his second round Council member Elissa Silverman (I-At Large) and then-Council member David Gross (I-At Large) voted against him.
At the time, Silverman said she was opposed to Albert serving another term because she objected to his management of a deal to redevelop the Housing Authority’s North Capitol Street headquarters.
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Bowser’s office on Friday released a statement saying that the mayor “holds every employee and appointee to the highest ethics standards and expects them to make decisions to earn and keep the trust of DC residents.” The statement went on to say that the mayor had “referred the matters raised to the D.C. Board of Ethics and Government Accountability.”
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Albert, 61, has held high-ranking posts under two previous mayors, serving as a deputy mayor for both Anthony Williams and Adrian Fenty. He also was city administrator under Fenty.
Albert is the president and chief executive of the Downtown D.C. Business Improvement District. Before joining the BID, he was a senior policy adviser for Holland & Knight, a prominent D.C. law firm.
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After Albert’s resignation, Bowser requested that the city’s ethics board investigate whether Albert had violated conflict-of-interest regulations relating to Moya’s contracts. His departure also prompted the Council’s housing committee to ask the Office of the Inspector General to conduct an independent investigation into a broad “pattern of misconduct” at the Housing Authority.
Brenda Donald, the Housing Authority’s executive director, has said that the agency would cooperate with any investigation.
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The Housing Authority has been beset by turmoil, including the recent departure of its previous executive director, Tyrone Garrett, a whistleblower’s lawsuit, a $2.5 million maintenance backlog, and residents’ protests over the redevelopment of public housing sites.
The agency oversees the District’s portfolio of 52 public housing complexes and helps manage and fund nearly two dozen mixed-income properties providing homes to low-income residents.
More than 50,000 Washingtonians live in DCHA properties.
Spencer S. Hsu contributed to this report.