LEWISTON — The city’s top administrator at the time a local developer was allegedly stealing federal money through City Hall said Friday he was not aware of any city worker being complicit in the scheme.

Reached by phone at his office in Presque Isle, where he serves as city manager, James Bennett said that during his tenure as Lewiston’s city administrator he did not know that local developer Travis Soule, 47, was getting checks from the city that were drawn on grant money from U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Soule got the money to rehab lower-income apartment buildings, even though the federal money allegedly went straight into his bank account instead of to the contractors who were supposed to perform the work.

“My impression was that everything was being done the way it was supposed to be done according to the regulations,” Bennett said when asked why city inspectors who were supposed to confirm the work was done properly hadn’t reported that the approved work had never been performed as proposed in estimates.

Asked whether he believes someone at City Hall might have turned a blind eye that would have allowed Soule to carry out his alleged scheme, Bennett said: “I certainly wouldn’t have any indication that that was going on. We got audited on the use of those funds and everything that we had for reports was fine, everything was in compliance.”

There was no hint of impropriety, Bennett said.

“Certainly, I can’t imagine and I would hope not that any of the city staff was involved with that, but obviously, I can’t say for certain,” he said.

Had he been aware of any wrongdoing on the part of any city employee, Bennett said he would have taken action immediately.

Despite the fact that Soule had worked with city officials on a multimillion-dollar project called Island Point that was aimed at developing the Cowan Mill area, Bennett said he wouldn’t have expected Soule to get special treatment or for city workers to suspend regulations for him.

“I can’t imagine that he would have been treated any differently. Certainly, that wasn’t the standard,” Bennett said.

Bennett said he couldn’t remember exactly how HUD designed the process to work to ensure that the grant money was used as intended.

Soule has been charged with two federal counts of fraud and embezzlement.

HUD’s Office of Inspector General in New Hampshire began investigating Soule’s housing and development activities in 2009 after learning of irregularities in his loan applications for HUD funding to rehab and repair his rental properties.

The charges stem from $180,000 worth of transactions between June 2007 and May 2008 for rehabilitation projects at three Pine Street properties he owned.

The federal complaint alleges Soule solicited estimates from various contractors for rehabilitation of those properties and then filed the estimates with applications to the city of Lewiston for loans under HUD’s HOME program, which is aimed at improving availability of affordable housing for low-income families. He did this, according to the complaint, knowing that his applications for funding were fraudulent and that the work “for which the funds had been authorized was not done.”

The federal complaint also alleges that Soule embezzled money from the HOME Investment Partnership Program by converting checks and vouchers for his own use or the use of another, including depositing some of the checks into his personal checking account.

Soule, who lived in New Gloucester during the time of the alleged crimes, lives in Rockland.

Prosecutors said the charges lodged against Soule are temporary. Formal charges, either through indictment by a federal grand jury or through a process that waives a grand jury process would be expected sometime before July 2. The two sides agreed to a time extension.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Halsey Frank declined to comment on whether the extra time was aimed at giving Soule an opportunity to provide prosecutors with information about possible co-conspirators. In the complaint, the investigator’s affidavit reads: “In March, 2009, this affiant received information that Travis Soule, and maybe others, allegedly submitted multiple false invoices to the City of Lewiston to request payment for rehabilitation work.”

Lewiston Police Chief Michael Bussiere said his department was involved in assisting in the federal investigation, including interviewing witnesses. Bussiere declined to comment on whether any others might be charged in connection with the case.

Maine Rep. Michael Carey, D-Lewiston, who worked for Soule at the time he applied for HUD money, said his only knowledge of Soule’s activities was limited to what he read in the Sun Journal report Thursday. He declined to comment on the charges pending against his former boss.

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