Report: Florissant Man Indicted After Taking $38,000 in Bribes

A man, who was the former director of St. Louis' U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development office, allegedly accepted $38,000 in bribes from a St. Louis couple and now faces federal conspiracy and false statement charges, according to a report in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Lavern Charles Hester, 57, was indicted last week by a federal grand jury one one felony count of conspiracy to provide and accept an illegal gratuity and two counts of making false statements, the report said.

From the Post-Dispatch:

Prosecutors say that Hester was director of multifamily in HUD's office here, making him responsible for oversight and approval of FHA financing of multifamily properties in Missouri.

He took $38,000 in payments between June 2007 and December 2008 from the Robinsons to facilitate his approval of $1.5 million in refinancing on the mortgage of an apartment property in Mexico, Mo., they say.

For more on this story, CLICK HERE.