Federal authorities have charged three people with defrauding the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) by filing fraudulent claims for disaster relief following devastating January wildfires.
Hedeshia Robertson, 36, of Lakewood; Tyrone D. Barnes Jr., 38, of Paramount; and Joyce Turner, 55, of Rosharon, Texas, face federal charges for allegedly submitting false claims for properties they neither owned nor occupied during the Eaton and Palisades wildfires, according to the Justice Department.
"These defendants allegedly made false and fraudulent claims to FEMA for emergency benefits related to wildfires that devastated Los Angeles County two months ago," said Acting United States Attorney Joseph McNally. "These false claims resulted in badly needed disaster-relief money being denied to actual wildfire victims while these defendants allegedly used property information to illegally line their own pockets."
The Eaton and Palisades wildfires, which started in January, burned nearly 60,000 acres, destroyed more than 16,000 structures and killed 29 people. President Biden approved a Major Disaster Declaration the following day, enabling FEMA to provide financial assistance to affected individuals.
Robertson was arrested Tuesday after being charged in a criminal complaint filed Monday for fraud connected to the Palisades Fire. According to court documents, she allegedly submitted a fraudulent application for FEMA benefits on Jan. 28, claiming damage to a residence in Pacific Palisades that she did not own, rent, or occupy.
Investigators say Robertson submitted a forged Southern California Edison electricity bill as proof of residency. When the utility company was contacted, they confirmed the account number on the bill was neither associated with Robertson nor the property address, and noted discrepancies in font sizes and styles indicating information had been crudely added to a legitimate bill.
The actual owner of the Pacific Palisades property told investigators he has never met Robertson and confirmed she had no association with the property, which he had been renting to another family since 2020.
Despite these fraudulent claims, Robertson received approximately $24,899 in FEMA benefits through direct deposits to her credit union account. She received $13,637 for personal property loss, $3,822 for displacement assistance, $770 for emergency critical needs, and $6,670 for rental assistance.
Court documents reveal Robertson later submitted a letter to FEMA requesting additional financial assistance for childcare, stating, "I have lost both my home and workplace, leaving me in an extremely difficult financial and personal situation."
At the time of her arrest, Robertson was allegedly attempting to obtain additional FEMA benefits by claiming a purported property lease in San Francisco.
In a separate case, Barnes is accused of submitting a disaster relief claim for an Altadena property owned by individuals who did not know him. The actual owners contacted FEMA about potential assistance, which is when they learned another person had already submitted an application for their property. Barnes was indicted by a federal grand jury on February 21.
Turner, meanwhile, allegedly submitted an application claiming her home had been destroyed in the Eaton fire, but investigators found she appears never to have lived in California and had no connection to the address she claimed was destroyed. Court documents state she allegedly forged a lease to make it look like she lived there and received more than $25,000 from FEMA.
According to the criminal complaint, Turner has a history of filing fraudulent disaster claims, having "submitted at least ten other applications to FEMA for disaster relief related to seven other federally declared disasters," including Hurricane Katrina (2005), Hurricane Ike (2008), and Hurricane Beryl (2024).
"These suspects are accused of attempting to defraud the U.S. Government out of disaster relief funds carved out to help those who lost loved ones, pets, and homes…as well as those whose properties were damaged instead of destroyed," said Special Agent in Charge Tyler Hatcher of IRS Criminal Investigation's Los Angeles Field Office.
The fraud cases were investigated by the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General and Homeland Security Investigations' El Camino Real Financial Crimes Task Force.
The charge of fraud in connection with major disaster or emergency benefits carries a statutory maximum sentence of 30 years in federal prison. The charge of false, fictitious, or fraudulent claim against the United States carries a statutory maximum sentence of five years in federal prison.
All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
