ACORN has always had, uh, compli cated relations with the law. But helping pimps and prostitutes com mit housing fraud? That’s a new one.
Affiliates of the political shakedown group have now been caught on hidden camera in three separate cities, including New York, doing just that.
As The Post reported yesterday, housing aides at ACORN’s Brooklyn office advised activists posing as a prostitute and a pimp on how to doctor mortgage documents to get a loan for a “brothel.”
“Honesty is not going to get you the house,” one says. “[Say] you are freelancing,” says another. They tell the pair to open several bank accounts and make small deposits to avoid scrutiny.
ACORN honcho Bertha Lewis says that employees caught in similar stings in Baltimore and Washington have been fired.
But the pattern is clear. This is the same outfit, after all, that’s being probed in numerous states for widespread voter-registration fraud. Its New York political arm, the powerful Working Families Party, has attracted attention for its shady financial dealings.
Of course, ACORN has long won its bread by shaking down businesses with raw physical pressure and pushing the legal and ethical envelope. It’s no surprise, then, that it would attract workers eager to abet sex-trafficking scams.
Fortunately, public officials (even on the left) are taking note. A Senate amendment to keep ACORN from getting federal housing grants passed 83-7 yesterday (shamefully, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand was among the seven). The Census Bureau cut its ties with ACORN. And the Kings County DA promises to “take a look” at the group’s Brooklyn office.
Yet, stunningly, ACORN still gets to co-run city high schools. (Wonder what they teach there!) That’s unacceptable.
Let’s face it: ACORN is a scam.
It needs to be treated accordingly.