SAN ANTONIO -- There are corruption charges at the San Antonio Housing Authority (SAHA). Several current and former employees were indicted on Thursday for allegedly taking kickbacks from contractors.
The five SAHA employees have been charged at federal court with taking bribes from contractors who did work for the agency. Family members scuffled with photographers as they waited outside the Federal Courthouse.
The court records listed payments allegedly given to Robert Olivares, Jr. and Roman Reyes who worked in SAHA's maintenance division by contractors who wanted work. FBI agents arrested them after a tip from a contractor who came forward to reveal the scheme.
After leaving the courthouse, Roman Reyes told reporters it was “just a misunderstanding, you know. You have a contractor that is supposedly saying stuff and their taking his side, listening to what he's gotta say because maybe someone higher up is taking bigger bribes and they're taking care of the little guy first.”
When asked if he took a bribe, Reyes emphatically insisted that he “Never asked for any. Didn’t take any.”
As for SAHA, the head of the agency had little to say.
Lourdes Castro Ramirez, president and CEO of SAHA, says, “As an agency the San Antonio Housing Authority has been fully cooperating with the federal authorities.”
All five charged current and former employees will enter their pleas at a June 30 arraignment.
