I first read about alleged fraud surrounding a federal grant application in Yadkin County in the Winston-Salem Journal, but further browsing reveals that CJ executive editor Don Carrington broke the story yesterday.

Bottom line is Yadkin officials noticed irregularities in a federal grant application prepared by Southern Pines-based Hobbs, Upchurch & Associates. The grant would go toward home repairs for low-income Yadkin residents:

The allegations are that Hobbs Upchurch did not actually meet the applicants in person and collect their signatures on income statements, nor did the company actually make inspections of each home to analyze the repairs that may be needed. Cromwell concluded in his report that the signatures on income statements were forgeries because they did not match signatures on other public documents, such as a deed of trust.

One of the applicants listed in the Hobbs Upchurch 2010 grant had died nine months before the company was supposed to have interviewed him. Another applicant’s home was destroyed by fire, but Hobbs Upchurch claimed six people were living there months later.

It’s worth noting that firm founder Fred Hobbs was recently fined $150,000 by the state elections board for illegally funneling money to Senate leader Marc Basnight, Gov. Bev Perdue, Lt. Gov. Dennis Wicker, and former Gov. Mike Easley.