Five people have been arrested for making false claims to get federal disaster relief money in the wake of the January Los Angeles wildfires, the US. Justice Department said on Friday, April 25.
The defendants claimed their property was damaged or destroyed in the Eaton and Palisades fires, prosecutors said. The fires began on Jan. 7 and burned a total of almost 60,000 acres, destroyed more than 16,000 structures and killed at least 30 people. In response, the president approved a major disaster declaration, allowing the Federal Emergency Management Agency to create a program to give financial aid to fire victims.
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In total, the five defendants received over $150,000 for their allegedly false claims. Four of them are from Los Angeles County, the other is from Pinal County, AZ.
Four defendants were arrested on Thursday; the fifth was in custody in Arizona as of Wednesday, according to a U.S. Attorney’s office news release. Each is charged with fraud in connection with major disaster or emergency benefits.
The Arizona resident listed a nonexistent address in Altadena in the fraudulent claim, according to the release. The other four claimed they either rented or owned homes in the Pacific Palisades or Altadena.
Last month, a 36-year-old Lakewood resident was arrested and is scheduled to plead guilty to one count of fraud in connection with major disaster or emergency benefits. In a plea agreement, she admitted to filing a fraudulent application for FEMA benefits for a Pacific Palisades property that she neither owned or rented. The woman fraudulently obtained almost $25,000 in FEMA benefits.
Another defendant, a 48-year-old South Los Angeles resident, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to one count of fraud in connection with major disaster or emergency benefits. In mid-January, he falsely stated on a FEMA application for wildfire-relief benefits that his rented South LA property had been damaged and and suffered a disruption of his utilities, a property around 20 miles from the Palisades and Eaton fires, according to the release. He was not renting at that South LA residence. The man received over $2,000 worth of food and lodging at two LA County hotels paid for by FEMA.
To report fraud related to FEMA disaster-relief public assistance, contact the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General (DHS-OIG) hotline at (800) 323-8603.