Chester Housing Authority officials and contractor charged in bribery, fraud schemes

Two employees at the Chester Housing Authority and a contractor have been charged by federal prosecutors with defrauding the authority in two separate schemes that yielded more than $75,000 in bribes and nearly $550,000 in payments for work already performed by others or not done at all.

During the alleged schemes, Norman D. Wise, 57, of Mullica Hill, Gloucester County, worked as director of public housing at the authority, and Douglas E. Daniel, 65, of Philadelphia, worked as Wise’s chief assistant, U.S. Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero said in a news release.

Leonard F. Coleman, 53, of Paulsboro, was the owner of Coleman Contracting, Romero said.

All three were charged by information — which could indicate the defendants are cooperating with prosecutors — with bribery and fraud offenses related to the two schemes.

Steven A. Fischer, the authority’s executive director, said in an emailed statement: “The agency is of course gravely disappointed to have been victimized by trusted personnel. This will not cause the CHA to waiver from its mission of providing affordable housing. The recovery from this misfortune is well underway as we await the legal outcome of the individuals involved.”

Fischer told the Delaware County Daily Times that Wise and Daniel had been terminated from their jobs.

Wise, Daniel, and Coleman could not be reached for comment.

According to the information, from about July 2014 through March 2022, Coleman made $76,400 in bribe payments separately to Wise and Daniel directly into their personal bank accounts.

The payments resulted from inflated invoices for Coleman’s work, so the bribe money came from the Chester Housing Authority, Romero said. Coleman received about $2.5 million from the authority during that time.

In the separate alleged scheme from about January 2019 through about January 2023, Wise and Daniel used a company they created to fraudulently bill the authority for work performed by others or not performed at all.

Trinity Management Group billed for work performed by salaried authority employees during regular working hours, or performed by contractors who were paid for that work, or for no work, Romero said.

The type of work covered included landscaping, painting, window replacements, and other construction or renovation work at authority properties.

The fraudulent billing resulted in $544,967 in losses for the Chester Housing Authority, Romero said.