[StBernard] GRETNA MAN SENTENCED FOR "KATRINA FRAUD"

[Westley Annis]

GRETNA MAN SENTENCED FOR "KATRINA FRAUD" 
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA -JOHN CHIEM, age 48, a resident of Gretna, Louisiana,
was sentenced to five (5) years probation and ordered to pay $12,885 in
restitution today in Federal District Court after pleading guilty to a one
count bill of information for theft of Government money relating to a
fraudulent claim he submitted to FEMA shortly after Hurricane Katrina,
announced U. S. Attorney Jim Letten. 

According to court documents, JOHN CHIEM filed a claim for FEMA assistance
on September 9, 2005 for a home he formerly owned in Buras, LA. The home,
which was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina on August 29, 2005, had been sold
by CHIEM to another family in December, 2004. CHIEM admitted today that he
was not entitled to the over $10,000 in government assistance he
fraudulently obtained in the fall of 2005. 

JOHN CHIEM faces a maximum term of imprisonment of ten (10) years and a fine
of $250,000. 

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the
United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana. The
case was prosecuted by Assistant U. S. Attorney Dan Friel.