#wildfire fraud

The indictment alleges that Harris and Johnson conspired with each other and carried out a wire fraud scheme, wherein they are accused of submitting false claims to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, claiming to have suffered income, housing, and property losses as a result of two federal disasters, when, as Harris and Johnson both knew, they did not live in the disaster area or suffer any such losses.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency warns the public of online classified advertisements that are luring Maui wildfire survivors with false offers of available rental units. “People are learning too late that the cash they paid for a security deposit went to a scammer instead,” according to a FEMA news release.