Artest's sister part of housing probe
VicXnews
Investigators look at claims she didn't report assistance she
received from NBA player
http://www.indystar.com/article/20091126/LOCAL1803/911260447/Artest-s-sister-part-of-housing-probe
By John Tuohy
john....@indystar.com
Federal housing authorities are investigating claims that the sister of
professional basketball player Ron Artest hid bill payments her brother
made for her subsidized Eastside home.
Investigators searched Latoya Holmes-Ivey's home Wednesday, searching for
evidence that Artest paid her utility bills and that she had failed to
accurately report her income to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
Development.
Holmes-Ivey could face fraud charges if she didn't report all her sources
of income, said Rufus "Bud" Myers, executive director of the Indianapolis
Housing Agency.
Neither Artest, a Los Angeles Lakers and former Indiana Pacers player, nor
his sister have been accused of any wrongdoing, Myers said.
"As far as we are concerned, (Artest) is just a guy helping out his
family," he said. "But it is his sister's responsibility to report it and
try to recover some money if that's the case."
Wednesday's raid by Housing Agency police, HUD's office of inspector
general and the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department is part of a
larger, continuing probe that has led to dozens of arrests and evictions,
said Steve Golden, the Housing Agency's assistant police chief.
Officials said Holmes-Ivey, 36, received $34,901 from HUD in rent vouchers
and utility assistance from March 2006 to this month to live in two
Indianapolis homes that are part of the federal Section 8 program.
Authorities said they are focusing on allegations that Artest paid his
sister's utility bills, instead of her using $6,571 in debit cards the
government provided for those bills.
The probe was launched after police received an e-mail from someone who
said he worked for Tri Star Sports & Entertainment Group in Tennessee,
which handles business for Artest. He said the firm made regular bill
payments for Holmes-Ivey's utilities.
Police said they found several express mail packages from Tri Star to
Holmes-Ivey during the search. One from Sept. 23 had return envelopes
inside.
David Bauman, Artest's agent, said he had not been contacted by HUD or any
law enforcement agency and was not aware of the allegations.
Holmes-Ivey, who was at her mother's house in Zionsville on Wednesday for
the holiday, denied any wrongdoing and said she rarely speaks to her
brother.
"I talk to him once in a blue moon and hardly ever ask him for anything,"
she said. "I'm my own person and take care of myself. Just because he is
an NBA player doesn't mean he has to take care of me."
Holmes-Ivey said she occasionally will mention that she is short of cash
for a bill, and "he'll take care of the balance."
She said she doesn't live in the raided house anymore but has been
approved to move into another Section 8 house on the Westside on Jan. 1.
She is staying with her mother until then.
Holmes-Ivey, Artest's oldest sister, moved to Indianapolis in 2006 from a
subsidized home in New York City, where the Artests were raised. When she
moved, her voucher eligibility was transferred to the Indianapolis Housing
Agency.
Artest, who played for the Indiana Pacers from 2002 until 2006, lives in
Beverly Hills, Calif. He recently sold the Carmel home where his mother
lived, and she moved to Zionsville.
Holmes-Ivey pays $625 a month in rent for a three-story home south of the
Irvington neighborhood, where she lives with her three children, according
to a court affidavit seeking the search warrant.