By Steve Kemme
The Cincinnati Enquirer

HAMILTON - The Butler County Metropolitan Housing Authority has asked Hamilton police to investigate possible fraud committed against the agency.

Phyllis Hitte, director of the agency's Section 8 program, filed a complaint with Hamilton police Tuesday accusing unidentified suspects of withholding information from her and providing her with false information for financial gain, according to the police report.

The Housing Authority and an outside attorney already had begun looking into the situation, said Leonard M. "Tony" Blaine, the agency's executive director.

This is the latest in a string of problems for the Housing Authority, which provides housing for low-income people.

Last month, someone not connected with the agency duplicated a check from the Housing Authority agency, wrote names on the checks and cashed them, Mr. Blaine said.

Mr. Blaine said the Housing Authority is investigating how that person obtained the checks.

Last year the local FBI office and the Ohio Attorney General's Office investigated complaints about the Housing Authority that some people had made to state and federal agencies.

The FBI cleared the agency of wrongdoing.

The Housing Authority's operations also are being assessed by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

The agency had received a "troubled" designation for the 2001 fiscal year because it scored 54 out of 100 points on a performance evaluation. The Housing Authority disputed that rating.

E-mail skemme@enquirer.com