GULFPORT, Miss - Duane Adams and Emily Fuqua, both Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) employees, were arrested for making false statements to FEMA for Hurricane Katrina assistance, announced U.S. Attorney Dunn Lampton, of the Southern District of Mississippi.

According to the criminal complaint and affidavit filed in U.S. District Court, Adams filed a disaster assistance application with FEMA claiming his primary residence was a houseboat in Moss Point, Miss., which had been destroyed by the hurricane. However, Adams was not the owner of the houseboat. Adams and Fuqua created and submitted to FEMA false documentation to portray Adams as the owner and when a FEMA representative sought to verify ownership of the houseboat, Fuqua falsely identified herself over the phone as the person who sold the houseboat to Adams. As a result of the fraudulent application and scheme, Adams received approximately $25,500 from FEMA in disaster assistance.

In September 2005, Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales created the national Hurricane Katrina Fraud Task Force, 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 Alice Fisher of the Criminal Division, includes members from the FBI, the Federal Trade Commission, the Department of Labor Office of Inspector General, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Executive Office of U.S. Attorneys, among others.

Pursuant to the Justice Department initiative, a local Hurricane 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, call either the Department of Homeland Security-Office of the Inspector General Fraud Hotline at 1-866-720-5721 or the FBI Fraud Hotline at 1-800-225-5324.