Desima James has to be the most disaster-prone man in America.

The thirty-year-old of Atlanta, Georgia received over $30,000 in claims for disaster relief from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). James claimed to be a victim of Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana, Hurricane Rita in Texas, Hurricane Wilma in Florida, severe flooding from storms in New Hampshire, and even, a tornado in Indiana, according to a recent press release from FEMA.

The problem is, other than brief stint in New Orleans, where his own apartment suffered minor damage (and didn’t qualify for relief), James never lived in any of these places. James stayed ahead of the paper chase by filing under different names, but his luck eventually ran out when the federal government began to get suspicious and investigated the outrageously bad fortune of the Georgia man.
Justice caught up with James, who was arraigned March 26 before US Magistrate Judge Alan Baverman, who set a bond hearing for March 31.

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"In just a few months, this defendant claimed to be a victim of five different natural disasters in five different states,” said United Stated Attorney Sally Quillian Yates.  “He is accused of filing over 30 fraudulent claims with FEMA, using different names, fake social security numbers, and various addresses to enable him to escape detection and steal over $30,000 in disaster relief that was intended for real victims. He has now been caught and will be called to answer for this extensive fraud."

James was indicted for 14 counts of mail fraud, one count of wire fraud, seven accounts of false statements, and ten counts of theft of government funds. The wire fraud and mail carry sentences of up to 20 years for each count, the theft of government funds carry sentences up to 10 years for each count, and the false statement charges carry a maximum of up to 5 years in prison. Each charge also carries a fine of up to $250,000.

FEMA was careful however, of drawing any outright conclusions and urged readers to do the same. According to the March 26 press release by the government agency, “Members of the public are reminded that the indictment only contains charges. The defendant is presumed innocent of the charges, and it will be the government's burden to prove the defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.”
Martin D. Phanco, the Inspector in Charge of the Atlanta Division of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, credits  the improving law enforcement infrastructure that made this possible, especially the communication between different agencies that was needed to make an arrest like this possible.

"This investigation is an excellent example of a partnership between federal law enforcement agencies to bring down a nationwide fraud scheme,” he said. “The Postal Inspection Service aggressively pursues all crimes using the U.S. Mail to further a fraudulent scheme, but is especially vigilant with regards to any scheme that attempts to profit from natural disasters such as these destructive hurricanes.”

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