Ansonia Police Department
Santiago (left), Alvarez (right)
ANSONIA – Two Shelton residents are accused of using falsified documents to steal more than $50,000 from the Ansonia Housing Authority’s Section 8 program.
Fernando Luis Santiago, 43, and Keidy Magdeline Alvarez, 46, were arrested by Ansonia police in September after an investigation concluded that the pair had concealed a relationship to claim federal assistance they didn’t qualify for.
Santiago is charged with one count of larceny in the first degree and one count of conspiracy to commit larceny.
Alvarez faces the same charges as Santiago, as well as five counts of forgery.
An arrest warrant states that Alvarez had been filing for rental assistance using fraudulent information since 2012. However, the charges are based on just the last five years, which is the statute of limitations for the crimes.
Santiago and Alvarez began dating sometime around 2008, according to the warrant. In 2011, Santiago purchased a house on Roberts Street in Shelton.
In 2012, Alvarez applied for federal housing subsidies – also known as Section 8 – through the Ansonia Housing Authority. She listed Santiago’s house as her address.
According to the warrant, the relationship between Alvarez and Santiago made them ineligible to use the program. However, Alvarez did not include their relationship when applying.
Alvarez continued to file rental assistance applications each year after without mentioning the relationship, according to the warrant. In 2017, the Department of Social Services (DSS) questioned her after noticing that her child’s father had the same name as her landlord. Alvarez said it was a coincidence.
In 2023, an investigation by the housing authority found Santiago’s name on the child’s birth certificate.
That investigation also revealed that Santiago no longer owned the house he was still receiving rent payments for. He had sold it in 2021 and moved to a house on Toas Street.
The following police investigation found surveillance footage that showed Santiago cashing the housing authority’s checks after he sold the house. The total value of the checks cashed since 2019 was placed at $50,806.
Neighbors said the pair moved out when Santiago sold the house. Alvarez continued to claim the house as her residence in rental assistance applications for two years afterward.
Santiago’s next court date is Nov. 20 in Derby. Alvarez’s is Nov. 21, also in Derby.
Alvarez is also facing an identity theft charge for an unrelated case in Stamford.
Ansonia Police Detective Jonathan Troesser authored the arrest warrant.
