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Mon View Heights owners charged with pocketing federal funds meant to fix up housing complex

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — The owners of the company responsible for the Mon View Heights housing complex in West Mifflin, which was declared a public nuisance last year, are facing more charges.

The Allegheny County District Attorney's Office has issued arrest warrants for the three corporate owners of the dilapidated housing community, accusing them of pocketing more than a half a million dollars in federal funds meant to fix it up, forcing residents to live in deplorable conditions. 

The conditions are almost unspeakable: raw sewage in the streets, no security, faulty fire hydrants, mold, leaks, caved in ceilings and pest infestations. 

Back in October, District Attorney Stephen Zappala toured the housing complex and later filed public nuisance charges against the out-of-state owners. On Tuesday, he issued warrants for their arrest, accusing New Yorkers Frederick Schulman, Moshe "Mark" Silber and Jonathan Liani in a complicated scheme of diverting funds meant to fix conditions at Mon View Heights and other housing communities into their own pockets. 

Schulman and Silber are principals in NB Affordable, which owns 11 other housing communities in the region, all of which have been cited for poor conditions. The indictment says they diverted $580,000 in Mon View funds into other accounts, letting conditions deteriorate into a health crisis. When West Mifflin Code Enforcement inspected 127 units, 96 failed. 

The two are facing sentencing in New York for mortgage fraud and their website has been taken down.

Today, the complex is basically unattended. According to the complaint, a security company quit when the owners failed to pay $55,000 for services rendered. And West Mifflin police say they have responded to 502 calls for service in the past six months, including 31 domestics, 49 disturbances and 12 shots fired calls. 

Zappala was not available for an interview on Tuesday and it's unclear when and where the warrants will be enforced as the owners are nowhere to be found.  

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