Press Releases
JACKSON MAN SENTENCED FOR HURRICANE KATRINA FRAUD
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
JACKSON, Miss. - Horris Bernard Green, of Jackson, Mississippi, was sentenced on Friday, February 23, to serve thirty months in prison and ordered to pay $502 in restitution to the American Red Cross for fraudulently obtaining Hurricane Katrina disaster benefits and misuse of a social security number, U.S. Attorney Dunn Lampton announced today.
In December 2006, Green pled guilty to charges that he had defrauded the American Red Cross by submitting a false application for disaster assistance, using a forged social security card to create a false identity. Green also admitted that he used the forged social security card to identify himself to Jackson law enforcement officers.
In September, 2005, Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales created the national Hurricane Katrina Fraud Task Force, designed to deter, investigate and prosecute disaster-related federal crimes such as charity fraud, identity theft, procurement fraud and insurance fraud. The Hurricane Katrina Fraud Task Force - chaired by Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division, Alice S. Fisher, includes members from the FBI, the Federal Trade Commission, the Department of Labor Office of Inspector General, the Postal Inspector’s Office and the Executive Office of United States Attorneys, among others.
Pursuant to the Justice Department initiative, a local Katrina Fraud Task Force, consisting of over 20 Federal and State law enforcement agencies, was formed in the Southern District of
Mississippi to pursue and prosecute individuals who engage in fraud associated with the hurricanes.
If anyone has information concerning possible fraud being committed during the post-Katrina recovery effort, please call either the DHS-OIG Fraud Hotline at 1-866-720-5721 or the FBI Fraud Hotline at 1-800-225-5324.
