14 Charged With FEMA Fraud

Hattiesburg Hurricane See who's been indicted for making false claims to FEMA and the Small Business Administration.

by Associated Press

Published: Fri, April 25, 2008 - 11:20 am CST

GULFPORT, Miss. (AP) - Fourteen people have been indicted on
federal charges of fraud related to Hurricane Katrina.
Federal prosecutors made the indictments public yesterday
(Thursday).
The indictment alleges the defendants defrauded the Federal Emergency Management Agencyby making false statements or
submitting false claims for disaster assistance money.
Prosecutors says each of the 14 suspects was serving time in
prisons at the time of the storm in August 2005.
The charges range from making false claims to FEMA to mail
fraud.
The defendants are:
- Lance Tovsland of Saucier. He has been accused of submitting a
false claim and receiving funds from FEMA for property in Gulfport
that was not his primary residence.
- Phyllis Miller of Gulfport. She is accused of submitting a
false claim and receiving funds from FEMA for property in Gulfport
that was not her primary residence.
- Merlin Winters of Gulfport. He is accused of submitting a
false claim and receiving funds from FEMA for property in Gulfport
that was not his primary residence. He also is accused of
submitting a false application to the Small Business Administration
for a Disaster Home Loan. - Brian Carr of Biloxi. He is accused of submitting a false
claim and receiving funds from FEMA for property in Biloxi that was
not his primary residence. He also is accused of submitting a false
application to the SBA for a Disaster Home Loan.
- Jacob Henley of Biloxi. He is accused of submitting a false
claim and receiving funds from FEMA for property in Biloxi that was
not his primary residence.
- Kevin Sherrod of Moss Point. He is accused of submitting a
false claim to FEMA and receiving funds for property in Pascagoula
that was not his primary residence.
- Charles Necase of Saucier. He is accused of submitting a false
claim and receiving funds from FEMA for property in Saucier that
was not his primary residence.
- Charles Jones of Gulfport. He is accused of submitting a false
claim and receiving funds from FEMA for property in Biloxi that was
not his primary residence.
- James Arnold of Gulfport. He is accused of submitting a false
claim and receiving funds from FEMA for property in Gulfport that
was not his primary residence. He also is accused of submitting a
false application to the SBA for a Disaster Home Loan and for a
Disaster Business Loan.
- Joseph Strickland of Hattiesburg. He is accused of submitting
a false claim and receiving funds from FEMA for property in
Hattiesburg that was not his primary residence.
- Douglas Horton, also known as Douglas Harton, of Hattiesburg.
He is accused of submitting a false claim and receiving funds from
FEMA for property in Hattiesburg that was not his primary
residence.
- Alex Woods of Biloxi. He is accused of submitting a false
claim and receiving funds from FEMA for property in Biloxi that was
not his primary residence.
- Curtis Cooper of Gulfport. He is accused of submitting a false
claim and receiving funds from FEMA for property in Gulfport that
was not his primary residence.
- Anthony Kozlowski Jr. of Gautier. He is accused of submitting
a false claim and receiving funds from FEMA for property in
Hattiesburg that was not his primary residence.

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DEW26M Says:

Wed, Jun 04, 2008 at 6:09 pm

I wonder how in the world they even got past the first application. I mean did FEMA actually send the money and all correspondence to the prison? I just can’t imagine how one would go about pulling off such a scam. But, I guess if you behind bars all day, day in, day out, you have plenty of time to think. REMEMBER KIDS, CRIME DOESN’T PAY. If and when it does, it’s very short lived.

carl Says:

Sat, Apr 26, 2008 at 7:17 am

Long over due! Now if they would do the same thing in ALABAMA and publish their names,it would be fitting. IT’S NOT NICE TO SCAM UNCLE SAM!! as a person once told me after being caught,“them feds don’t be kidding”.