International Kidnapping Suspect Sentenced For Vernon HUD Fraud

VERNON, CT — A defendant in an international kidnapping case who had been hiding in Vernon for years under false pretenses has been sentenced, a leading prosecutor said.

John H. Durham, United States attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that 67-year-old Allan Mann Jr., also known as Hailee Randolph DeSouza and Hailey R. DeSouza, was sentenced Thursday by U.S. District Judge Janet C. Hall in New Haven to 18 months in prison for receiving federal benefits while living in Vernon under an assumed name and while using federal benefits for about three decades.

According to case records, Mann, who is a Canadian citizen, abducted his 21-month-old son, Jermaine Allan Mann, on June 24, 1987, during a court-ordered visit in Toronto.

Mann and his son subsequently entered the U.S. and Mann changed his name to Hailee Randolph DeSouza, changed the name of his son, and acquired counterfeit birth certificates for him and his son, case records show.

Mann has never applied for nor received citizenship status in the U.S., Durhgam said.

In June 1990, Mann, using the name Hailee Randolph DeSouza, applied for and received a Social Security number. In support of this application, Mann presented his counterfeit birth certificate, according to case records.

In May 2018, Mann, using his alias, applied for a replacement Social Security card, Durham said.

Mann also participated in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Section 8 subsidized housing program at various times since 2004. Mann, who most recently resided in a Section 8 subsidized housing project in Terrace Drive in Vernon, made multiple false statements on HUD forms he signed in connection with his participation in the Section 8 program, according to a case records.

HUD has paid approximately $126,744 in housing assistance payments on Mann’s behalf, according to a case records.

Mann also made multiple false statements on applications to participate in the State of Connecticut’s Medicaid program, Durham said. Since January 2014, Medicaid has paid $52,970.19 in claims on behalf of Mann, and approximately $2,876.37 on behalf of his son, he added.

Mann has been detained since his arrest on Oct. 26, 2018. On Aug. 22, 2019, he pleaded guilty to one count of making a false statement.

Judge Hall ordered Mann to pay restitution of $18,512.05 to the Medicaid program and $34,744 to HUD.

Durham said an immigration detainer has been issued, and Mann faces removal proceedings at the conclusion of his sentence. Canadian authorities have advised the U.S. government that Canada will seek to extradite Mann based on an outstanding warrant for abduction.