Katrina Defrauder Caught

Fugitive From FBI Wanted List Arrested In Park

Around 1 a.m. on November 9th, rangers received a report of an assault that had taken place near Government Wash.

Investigation revealed that the primary suspect was Mitchell Baria of Jackson, Mississippi, who was wanted by the FBI and listed as a "featured fugitive" on a web site run by its office in that city. Rangers searched the area but were unable to find him. Later on the next day, NPS special agents who were staking out the area received a report from the government Wash campground host that he thought he'd seen Baria walking into a nearby wash.

The park's search dog, "Onyx," and handler ranger Todd Austin, together with rangers Joel Hyzer and Stephen Dollinger, began tracking Baria from the point where he'd last been seen.

They soon found him and he surrendered without incident. He was later released to the FBI.
Baria was wanted by the FBI for his alleged involvement in a scam to defraud Gulf Coast homeowners, mostly elderly, out of more than $100,000 since 2005. The victims' homes
were damaged by Hurricane Katrina, and Baria was hired to repair them. He allegedly obtained money to repair the homes, but performed no work. Baria's search and capture was accomplished through a coordinated effort by rangers and NPS and FBI special agents. [Submitted by Eric Lisnik, District Ranger]

More Information...
http://www.fbi.gov/wanted/fugitives/wcc/baria_ml.htm

Contractor Grifter

Article on Church World Services Site
http://www.churchworldservice.org/news/archives/2007/02/634.html
By Matt HackworthChurch World Service
SLIDELL, LA -- Just after Hurricane Katrina pushed a devastating storm surge into the city's subdivisions, Ida and Austin Beasley received an offer of help from a fellow church member.
The Beasleys, who live on a fixed retired income in a modest, brown Cape Cod-style home, thought the $3,000 offer to remove and replace flood-damaged drywall was a bargain from a parishioner who could be trusted. Instead, the Beasleys ended up with drywall of mismatched thicknesses, gaping joints between the panels and a total depletion of what little funds they had to rebuild.
"They didn't have flood insurance, and after they got scammed, we didn't know what to do," said Suzie Carrier, the Beasleys' daughter.
More and more people like the Beazleys, who fall victim to predatory contractor schemes, are turning to authorities for help. Louisiana Attorney General Charles C. Foti, Jr. said his office receives around 125 contractor fraud claims a week.
The number of complaints is rising, perhaps because outreach efforts are bolstering disaster survivors to take action. A vibrant billboard campaign stands out to motorists along south Louisiana roadways, asking for reports of scams ("CALL NOW") and warning those who might try them ("WE'RE WATCHING"). In Orleans Parish, a mobile complaint center frequents home center parking lots to take complaints from storm victims almost able to return home but for a scam.
"They're in shock, in a very vulnerable state," said Church World Service Disaster Relief and Recovery Liaison (DRRL) Tom Davis. "The contractors who are able to scam come in pretty quickly, and come in when people's ability to reason is at its lowest. A traumatized person whose home has been destroyed or whose roof has been blown off, they're just tunneling in on their need" without paying attention to critical details, such as contracts.
Davis, who has responded to disasters across the United States, noted how scamming contractors strategize to prey around when government aid or insurance settlements put checks in homeowner's hands. As homeowners in Mississippi and Louisiana prepare to receive $10.5 billion in recovery grants, attorneys general in both states are offering fill-in-the-blank examples of home repair contracts to residents, and warning against paying up front or in cash for work.
For the Beasleys, their brush with a contractor scam was too much for their daughter to handle. Suzie Carrier moved her family from Indiana back home to Slidell, where she spends her days painting the newly, and correctly, installed drywall in her parent's house, an effort to erase the physical reminders of an emotional predator. The Church Reformed World Relief Committee (CRWRC), in partnership with Church World Service, secured materials and provided labor to make the Beasleys' home livable again.
"Without their help, I really don't know what we would have done," Carrier said

Contractor charged with bilking customers
03:59 PM CDT on Tuesday, May 30, 2006
WWLTV.com

A Texas contractor accused of bilking a Slidell homeowner out of $60,000 turned himself in to St. Tammany Parish authorities Tuesday.

Gary Holland, 39, is charged with seven counts of theft over $500 in the case and St. Tammany Parish officials say more charges are anticipated in other cases.

Anyone who thinks they may be a victim of Holland or any other contractor is urged to call Detective Keith Dowling at 985-645-2454.

St. Tammany Parish deputies said Holland’s last known address was in Cypress, Texas.

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Report it if you think you've been taken advantage of! Start with your local police and move your way up the food chain to the Chamber of Commerce, The Better Business Bureau and your state's Attorney General.

New Scam

WWLTV.com
Katrina victims awaiting money from the LRA need to be on the lookout for a scam that promises to speed up the process, according to the FBI.
James Bernazzani, the local FBI Chief says the scam works like this: People receive a call or an e-mail identifying the sender as a U.S. federal employee with the Grant Processing Office and they are told they can receive an interest-free advance on their LRA money as long as they promise to pay it back when the money comes in.
For a fee of about $299 the group will send them a check for thousands of dollars. Bernazzani says the catch is that there is no Grant Processing Office. He said what is worse is that victims are asked to cover the $299 fee by giving their credit card number, which then gives the con artist access to drain their account.
"Basically they have stolen your identity," he said. "They'll run up the charges on your credit card and bleed the money out of your bank account."
According to Bernazzani, the scam has already nabbed some local people, though he couldn't give specific numbers.
He also said a similar scam, known as phishing, is also siphoning off funds. He said that kind of scam comes when an e-mail is sent from what looks to be a legitimate bank or financial institution.
The e-mail often says that there is a problem with that person's account and that the should go to a web site and provide information to have it fixed. Once again, Bernazzani says the con artists get access to your vital information.
"The problem is that it's not the bank and when you provide that banking information, they've stolen your identity and they've bled the account."
Bernazzani says you shouldn't respond to any request for personal information that you didn't solicit yourself.