Two Mesa residents have been charged with stealing money from the Hurricane Katrina Disaster Relief Program.
Andre L. Milton, 40, and April M. Platt, 22, were indicted in federal court Oct. 23 for theft of government property and making false statements.
Court documents show Milton applied for FEMA aid by telephone on Sept. 26, 2005, claiming he lived in Independence, La. He later received more than $4,600 in disaster relief assistance.
Court records show Platt applied for disaster relief totaling more than $5,000, which she received beginning in Sept. 2005.
Milton, Platt and 14 other Arizonans received some type of federally funded assistance related to Hurricanes Rita or Katrina, even though they were all living or working in Arizona at the time of the 2005 disasters.
“This type of fraud diverts funds desperately needed by those recovering from disasters. Not only is this stealing taxpayers’ money but also from the private donations to non-governmental agencies,” said U.S. Attorney Daniel G. Knauss in a press release.
Other federal defendants included: Charles Levought, 54, of Tucson; Kenneth Elbert Hart, 28, of Tucson; Sheila Bernice Johnson, 49, of Goodyear; Stewart T. LaRue, Jr., 74, of Phoenix; and Carolyn Ladeen Richards, 60, of Tucson.
In Sept. 2005, the Department of Justice created the Hurricane Katrina Fraud Task Force to deter, investigate and prosecute disaster-related federal crimes such as charity fraud, identity theft, procurement fraud and insurance fraud. Since 2005, the task force has charged 768 people with hurricane fraud-related crimes.
