The non-profit city agency New Orleans Affordable Homeownership will suspend all of its business operations, and place all of the group’s employees on leave with pay for one week.  That decision came Friday as Mayor Ray Nagin also instructed the chairman of NOAH's board to take steps to investigate allegations of misspending by the agency.

In a letter to board chair Ed Shanklin, Nagin writes "I am concerned about the seriousness of allegations of potentially criminal activities by a key NOAH staff member."

Nagin said he has asked the federal department of Housing and Urban Development to participate in a probe of NOAH's operations.  He also stated that his Office of Recovery and Development Administration will "verify that services were performed at each address where we paid for services."

Nagin also recommended that NOAH employees be placed on administrative leave, a decision which the group's board approved Friday.  The board announced that a decision on the employees’ future will be made no later than next Wednesday.  Nagin wants NOAH to "provide to the City Attorney an inventory of all property... bank accounts, assets and liabilities assigned to, in control of, and/or owned by NOAH."  He also recommends that the board hire an independent accountant to aid investigators in any probe.

NOAH has been the subject of a series of reports by Eyewitness News that detailed inconsistencies between lists provided to the station on work that the program had remediating homes for some poor and elderly and work that was actually done.

In some cases the lists provided by the city showed work done on homes that the homeowners said was never done, or was done by someone other than NOAH. In other cases, addresses on the list where work was allegedly done went to an empty lot. In still other cases, the listed owners of some of the properties didn’t seem to qualify for the program that targeted low income homeowners and seniors.

In another development Friday, city attorney Penya Moses-Fields seemed to take city Inspector General Robert Cerasoli to task, for launching an investigation into NOAH without consulting with her office.  She also asks for clarification on how her office should proceed with requests for information in the case.

In a letter to Cerasoli, Moses-Fields wrote, "I am sure you aware that we have received, and continue to receive numerous requests for public records in connection with this matter.  We have provided such records to date." 

Moses-Fields says that, since city laws require records kept by the Inspector General be kept confidential, her office would like Cerasoli to advise her whether her "office should continue to provide documents as requested by the public."

She goes on to say, "It would be helpful if, in the future, you would provide a direct communication to your office when you initiate an investigation and would request that records are not released until further notice."

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