Louisiana Woman Pleads Guilty to FEMA Fraud Associated with False Claims that Her Home was Damaged

New Orleans, Louisiana – On August 18, 2022, U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced in a federal court in Louisiana that Schshinetia Anderson, age 44, a resident of Slidell, Louisiana, pled guilty on August 11, 2022, to FEMA fraud. On November 10, 2022, the defendant will be sentenced before the Honorable Mary Ann Vial Lemmon. The defendant faces up to five years in prison, a $250,000 fine, three years of supervised release, and a $100 obligatory special assessment charge.

According to court documents, Anderson made a fraudulent request for financial assistance related to a natural disaster associated with the supposed loss of her principal residence on or about August 18, 2016. In reality, as she was well aware, the house she had been renting had not sustained any damage, and she had generated phony paperwork saying that it had. She also created fraudulent and exaggerated rent leasing agreements in order to boost the amount of money she received from FEMA. Anderson collected $22,104 as a result of her deception.

U.S. Attorney Evans applauded the investigation conducted by the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General. Assistant United States Attorney G. Dall Kammer, Chief of the General Crimes Unit, is prosecuting this case.