Press Releases
PASS CHRISTIAN MAN SENTENCED FOR KATRINA FRAUD
TUESDAY, JUNE 26, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
GULFPORT, Miss - Paul Bruce Ladner, formerly of Pass Christian, Mississippi was sentenced in federal court on Monday to serve 12 months in prison for receiving $14,138.00 fraudulently from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), U.S. Attorney Dunn Lampton announced today. Ladner was also ordered to pay restitution to FEMA for the money received, along with $6,400.00 for the cost of hauling, set-up and removal of the FEMA trailer he fraudulently obtained.
Ladner pled guilty in March to filing a false claim against FEMA for utilizing an address in Pass Christian where he did not live at the time of Hurricane Katrina. Ladner was remanded into the custody of the US Marshal Service immediately.
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.
