[StBernard] (no subject)

[Westley Annis]

JACKSON, Mississippi, August 24, 2006 (ENS) - 

Four men have been indicted for conspiracy to defraud the United States
involving the creation and submission of fraudulent debris removal load
slips in the amount of $716,677.

U.S. Attorney Dunn Lampton of the Southern District of Mississippi announced
today that those charged in the indictment include Allen Kitto, 24, of
Dundee, Florida, and three Mississippi residents - Clinton K. Miller, of
Carriere; as well as Devin Chuter, 23, Lauren Robertson, 23, of Picayune.

The indictment charges that Kitto owned and operated J.A.K. DC&ER Inc., a
debris removal contracting company working as a sub-contractor in Pearl
River County, and that Miller, Chuter and Robertson worked for a debris
removal monitoring company operating in Pearl River County. 

Chuter and Robertson allegedly signed false debris load slips
misrepresenting that debris was loaded onto trucks on the roadway when
Chuter and Robertson were not present at the loading site and, in most
instances, created and signed the false load slips at their residences.

The government charges that false debris load slips misrepresented that
certain trucks, belonging to and under the control of Kitto, were hauling
loads of debris at a time when the trucks identified on the debris load
slips were not on the road or at the dump site listed on the load slips. 

The false debris load slips misrepresented that loads of debris were
delivered to a designated dump site in Pearl River County, when in truth and
fact no debris was delivered to the dump site, the government alleges. 

Miller allegedly collected the false load slips from his co-conspirators and
submitted them to the debris monitoring company who would, in turn, submit
the false load slips to the prime contractor for payment to Kitto. 

The indictment also charges that Kitto, in an effort to conceal the
conspiracy, would deposit the funds obtained through the conspiracy into a
bank account opened in the name of one of his employees and then write a
check to an unindicted co-conspirator who would then pay Kitto and Miller.
Miller would then pay Chuter and Robertson for completing and signing the
false load slips along with an extra amount of money for "hush money."

This indictment comes as a result of a joint investigation conducted by the
FBI and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The maximum penalty
for conspiracy to defraud the United States is five years in prison and a
$250,000 fine.

Under the umbrella of the U.S. Justice Department's Hurricane Katrina Fraud
Task Force, a local 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 file false and fraudulent claims.

The Hurricane Katrina Fraud Task Force - chaired by Assistant Attorney
General Alice S. Fisher of the Criminal Division - includes the FBI, the
U.S. Inspectors General community, the U.S. Secret Service, the U.S. Postal
Inspection Service, the Executive Office for United States Attorneys and
others.

Possible fraud in the post-Katrina recovery effort can be reported either to
the DHS-Office of the Inspector General Fraud Hotline at 1-866-720-5721 or
to the FBI Fraud Hotline at 1-800-225-5324.