LOS ANGELES (CNS) – Two Los Angeles County residents and one from Texas are facing federal charges for allegedly seeking disaster relief funds by falsely claiming their properties were damaged in the Eaton and Palisades wildfires, despite having no residences affected by the disasters, officials announced Wednesday.
The defendants, who were arrested this week after being charged with defrauding the Federal Emergency Management Agency, are:
— Tyrone D. Barnes Jr., 38, of Paramount allegedly submitted a disaster relief claim to FEMA for an Altadena property owned by other individuals who did not know him. The true owners of the property contacted FEMA about potential assistance, which is when they learned another person had already submitted an application in relation to their property;
— Hedeshia Robertson, 36, of Lakewood is accused of having filed a fraudulent application for FEMA benefits seeking benefits related to a damaged residence in Pacific Palisades that she did not have any connection to. As a result of her fraudulent application, Robertson allegedly obtained almost $25,000 in federal relief benefits to which she was not entitled. At the time of her arrest, Robertson also allegedly attempted to obtain additional FEMA benefits for a purported property lease in San Francisco; and
— Joyce Turner, 55, of Rosharon, Texas allegedly submitted an application claiming her home had been destroyed in the Eaton fire, but she appears never to have lived in California and, in fact, had no connection to the address she claimed was destroyed in the fire. Instead, she allegedly forged a lease making it look like she lived there, and she received more than $25,000 from FEMA because of the fraudulent submissions.
Barnes and Robertson are expected to make their initial appearances in Los Angeles federal court later Wednesday. Turner is scheduled to make her initial appearance Wednesday in the Southern District of Texas and is expected to appear in court in downtown Los Angeles in the coming weeks.
“These defendants allegedly made false and fraudulent claims to FEMA for emergency benefits related to wildfires that devastated Los Angeles County two months ago,” Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph McNally said in a statement. “These false claims resulted in badly needed disaster-relief money being denied to actual wildfire victims while these defendants allegedly used property information to illegally line their own pockets.”
McNally added at a news conference Wednesday that “if you fraudulently exploit disasters and attempt to profit … we will investigate you, we will find you, and we will prosecute you.”
The allegedly false claims were made in the wake of the Eaton and Palisades fires that started on Jan. 7. Together, the wildfires burned nearly 60,000 acres, destroyed more than 16,000 structures and resulted in the deaths of 29 people. Former President Joe Biden approved a Major Disaster Declaration, which prompted FEMA to develop a program to provide financial assistance to fire victims.
FEMA offered various forms of relief, a one-time payment of $750, up to $43,600 for “other needs” assistance, and housing assistance for up to 18 months. Homeowners are also potentially eligible for additional relief of up to $43,600 for home repair.
The fraud alleged in the three cases include payment of “other needs assistance” based on false claims of damage to personal property, lost vehicles and medical and relocation expenses, McNally said.
Al Rossi, acting assistant special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations Los Angeles, indicated that certain criminals consider the benefits “so-called free money.”
The charge of fraud in connection with major disaster or emergency benefits carries a possible sentence of up to 30 years in federal prison. The charge of false, fictitious, or fraudulent claim against the United States carries a sentence of up to five years in federal prison, prosecutors noted.
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