At the same time yesterday, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development said it would dispatch a team of auditors to scour PHA's financial books and dissect the agency's management operations.
In a letter to Street, HUD Deputy Secretary Ron Sims wrote, "We are very concerned about the appropriate use of taxpayer dollars and so we will be paying close attention to the team's findings."
HUD spokesman Jerry Brown said that auditors would arrive on Tuesday. Brown said a key focus of the audit would be whether federal funds were used to pay the agency's insurance policy.
The board also received a subpoena yesterday for documents from the U.S. Attorney's Office, which is working with the FBI, the Inquirer reported today, quoting sources.
Street said memos have been sent to PHA staff to preserve documents and computer files.
Sexual-harassment claims of three women have been settled for a combined $648,000, and a PHA insurer agreed last week to a $250,000 payment to a fourth woman. Street and other board members have said they had no knowledge of any of the women's complaints, or the settlements.
"It surprised the heck out of me," said PHA board member Patrick Eiding after the meeting. "How could he have been paid that kind of money and never told us about it?
"How could it be handled without coming to us?"
Mayor Nutter said he hoped that the PHA and HUD investigations would provide answers.
"I think the board must give a better explanation as to how they could be so uninformed about such serious and grave allegations," Nutter said. "Now, with HUD stepping up and announcing it will conduct its own investigation, we will start to get to the truth. We will start to get a better understanding of how PHA functions and operates."
