CU Member Charged In Hurricane ReliefFraud

HOUSTON - (10/03/05) -- A local man was charged Friday withfiling a phony claim with the Federal Emergency Management Agencyto receive $2,000 in Hurricane Katrina assistance through hiscredit union. According to a two-count indictment obtained by TheCredit Union Journal, Barney Spears, 38, filed an onlineapplication with FEMA in which he falsely claimed a primaryresidence in downtown New Orleans, and that the hurricane causedhim to have essential needs for food, shelter and clothing, thenhad had FEMA wire the available $2,000 in emergency aid to hisaccount at New Orleans FCU. But Spears has been working and livingfulltime in Houston since August 2004, the indictmentcharged.