Former Newark Cop Gets Three Months for Section 8 Fraud

A former Newark police officer was sentenced Monday to three months in prison for conspiring to fraudulently obtain payments under the Section 8 federal housing assistance program, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman said.

Suliaman Kamara, 32, of Newark, pleaded guilty in May to conspiring with his wife to obtain about $60,000 in housing assistance between 2006 and 2011. Kamara’s wife, identified only as S.L. in court papers, applied for the benefit while living with Kamara in a home he owned. S.L. and Kamara, who was working as a Newark police officer at the time, agreed to conceal the fact they were living together.

Federal law requires applicants for Section 8 housing assistance to disclose the income of every member of a household.

Kamara is scheduled to be sentenced in a second fraud case Aug. 23. In June, Kamara admitted he lied to his auto insurance company, collecting about $10,000 after falsely claiming his 2003 Yukon truck had been stolen. Kamara faces up to a year in prison on that charge, former state Attorney General Jeffrey Chiesa has said previously.