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Three people have been arrested and charged with mistakenly trying to earn tens of thousands of dollars in federal disaster mitigation money by falsely claiming that the Eton and Palisade wildfires have destroyed their property.
Joy Starner, 55 years old, lives in Texas. Tyrone D. Burns Jr., 38, of Paramount. Hedesia Robertson, 36, of Lakewood, was arrested Tuesday, according to the US Lawyer’s Office in Los Angeles.
The defendant allegedly used the FEMA programme, created in the wake of the Eaton and Palisade fires. This is a disaster that began to tear the state apart in early January, burning nearly 37,600 acres, destroying more than 16,000 structures, and resulting in 29 deaths.
“These false claims have allegedly denied disaster relief money by actual wildfire victims, while these defendants illegally lined up their pockets using property information,” Atty said. Joseph McNally.
The defendant could not be contacted for comment. It is unclear whether Turner has a legal representative. Barnes and Robertson’s public defense attorneys did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Turner allegedly filed an application on January 9th, claiming that a Pasadena rental property on Walnut Street was damaged in the Eaton fire, according to federal criminal charges. The next day, Turner allegedly called on the FEMA Disaster Center Hotline to change his address to the townhouse on Del Rey Avenue.
She is allegedly forged the lease as if she were living in her home on Delray Avenue. As a result, federal authorities say Turner received more than $25,000 from FEMA. The Walnut Street address was not damaged in the fire. The Delray Avenue property was damaged, but the property owner had not applied for disaster assistance.
The Del Rey Avenue home was listed for sale in 2024 and was vacant before the fire, according to the complaint.
Federal authorities said Turner does not appear to be living in California.
According to the complaint, Turner has submitted at least 10 other applications to FEMA for disaster relief linked to Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Aike, Hurricane Isaac, Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Beryl. Her criminal history includes prior arrests and convictions for fraudulent crimes, authorities said Wednesday.
Turner also filed for unemployment insurance benefits from the California Employment Development Division in August 2020, and is said to have applied again in January this year. EDD paid her more than $50,000, tied to one claim, authorities said.
According to federal charges, Burns, who was accused of false, fictitious or fraudulent claims against the United States, allegedly filed a disaster relief request with FEMA against Altadena’s property owned by another individual who does not know Burns.
The true owner of the Harding Avenue property learned of the fraud after contacting FEMA about potential support. The victim was identified as being identified in the indictment only by Initial, MS and AS, according to the charges, and according to the indictment, someone else has already filed an application for their property.
Robertson filed a fraudulent application for FEMA benefits on January 28th, claiming benefits related to damaged residences in Palisades in the Pacific. Officials said Robertson did not own, rent, live or work in the property.
As a result of his application, Robertson is said to have won nearly $25,000 in FEMA benefits. According to criminal charges, Robertson in February requested additional assistance, saying, “I lost both my home and my workplace and was in a very difficult financial and personal situation.”
At the time of her arrest, Robertson also allegedly attempted to obtain additional FEMA benefits for a San Francisco property lease.
According to the LA U.S. Lawyers’ Office, if a false, fictitious or fraudulent claim against the United States can last up to five years, fraud charges related to large-scale disasters or emergency benefits could be in prison for up to 30 years.
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