A former property manager in Portland, Maine, has been sentenced to five years in federal prison for embezzling from a federally funded housing organization and conspiring to alter money orders. Kelly Ballinger, 59, of Glenburn, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge John A. Woodcock, Jr., who also ordered her to pay approximately $1 million in restitution and serve three years of supervised release following her prison term. Ballinger pleaded guilty on May 1, 2024.
According to court documents, Ballinger managed a Portland apartment complex that received funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Between October 2015 and June 2021, she stole rent payments from tenants participating in the HUD Housing Choice Voucher Program. Ballinger instructed tenants to make rent payments using blank postal money orders and then filled in her own name or that of her subordinate employee Kathleen Conway as the payee. She sometimes added misleading information such as “groceries” on the memo line to disguise the payments as reimbursements. In some cases, she falsely reported tenants’ incomes as low as zero so that HUD would cover a larger portion of their rent.
Kathleen Conway pleaded guilty to embezzlement charges and was sentenced on June 6, 2024, to two years of probation with an order to pay $35,710 in restitution.
During sentencing, Judge Woodcock remarked that Ballinger was “able to concoct a scheme that avoided detection for years.” He described her actions as “calculated, deliberate, and devious.”
The case was investigated by the HUD Office of Inspector General (OIG) and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.
Special Agent in Charge Shawn Rice with HUD OIG said: “Ballinger and her co-conspirator preyed on the vulnerability of elderly and disabled individuals and altered income and expense documents to falsely increase HUD rental subsidies, which she then funneled to her personal bank account. HUD OIG will continue to work with its law enforcement partners to diligently pursue and hold accountable bad actors who willfully misuse federal assets.”
Ketty Larco-Ward, Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service’s Boston Division stated: “The U.S. Postal Inspection Service routinely seeks prosecution of individuals like Kelly Ballinger, who swindled funds that were designated to support fellow community members with housing. Postal Inspectors, alongside HUD OIG, uncovered the fraud schemes employed by Ballinger and her co-conspirator, to conceal her activities and line her pockets. We will continue to support and collaborate with our federal law enforcement partners to stop those who are engaged in these types of schemes.”
