December 12, 2007
For more information contact:
Managing Assistant U.S. Attorney Dixie Morrow
(850) 444-4000
GULF BREEZE RESIDENT INDICTED FOR HURRICANE KATRINA FRAUD
Pensacola, Florida - United States Attorney Gregory R. Miller, Northern District of Florida announced that Stephen P. Wehner, a resident of Gulf Breeze, Florida, was indicted by a Federal Grand Jury convened in Pensacola, Florida, for two counts of making false statements to the Small Business Administration (SBA). The indictment alleges that on two separate occasions in October 2006, while living in Gulf Breeze, Florida, Wehner applied for a low interest disaster relief loan made available to eligible New Orleans area residents affected by Hurricane Katrina, claiming an address in New Orleans as his primary residence and claiming that he suffered “$27,000+” in losses of personal belongings in the residence that were damaged by the storm. The indictment further alleges that the residence that Wehner claimed as his primary residence was not damaged when Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast in August 2005, and that he suffered no damage to personal property as a result. According to the allegations, Wehner received a total of $40,000 in loan proceeds from SBA.
In September 2005, the Department of Justice created the 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 Task Force – chaired by Assistant Attorney General Alice S. Fisher of the Criminal Division – includes the FBI, the U.S. Inspectors General community, the U.S. Secret Service, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Executive Office for United States Attorneys, and others. This case was investigated by Special Agent Louis Desselle, SBA Office of Inspector General (Office of Investigations), New Orleans, Louisiana. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen P. Preisser of the Pensacola Division.
False statements to a federal agency are punishable by up to five (5) years in federal prison, a $250,000 fine and three (3) years of supervised release.
An indictment is merely a formal charge by the Grand Jury. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in United States District Court.