Apartment manager stole thousands from ‘vulnerable’ residents in Alabama, feds say
A manager at low-income housing apartments stole over $25,000 from residents after convincing them to make their rent checks out to her, federal officials said.
Shannon Caruso, of Mobile, Alabama, pleaded guilty Sept. 26 to six counts of wire fraud, according to court documents. Now, she’s sentenced to 14 months in prison, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Alabama said in a Jan. 10 news release.
“Ms. Caruso was charged in state court, prior to the federal court indictment. She pled guilty, showed true remorse, and is working on paying back the people affected by her actions,” Jason Darley, Caruso’s attorney, told McClatchy News.
Caruso worked as manager at AHEPA 310 VIII Senior Apartments in Irvington from August 2021 through October 2022, where she was responsible for collecting rent payments, prosecutors said.
Residents told investigators they would leave the “payee” line blank when submitting the check, under the impression Caruso would submit it to the apartment complex, according to court records.
But instead of putting the money — worth $19,414.40 — into the proper AHEPA account, Caruso pocketed it and deposited it into her personal bank account, prosecutors said.
Then, Caruso left AHEPA and started working at Berkshire Apartments in Mobile, where she was employed between November 2022 and June 2023, court records show.
Berkshire Apartment residents said Caruso did the same thing, adding up to a total monetary loss of $7,055.25 at this location, prosecutors said.
“Stealing the rent money of vulnerable victims was a particularly egregious way for this crook to earn her sentence in federal prison,” said Sean Costello, U.S Attorney for the Southern District of Alabama.
According to the release, the housing authorities absorbed the losses and none of the renters who paid were evicted.
This story was originally published January 13, 2025 at 3:27 PM with the headline "Apartment manager stole thousands from ‘vulnerable’ residents in Alabama, feds say."
