Lashonda Booker

Ex-FEMA Worker Charged With Stealing Katrina Relief Money

Justin Elliott | January 11, 2010, 3:04PM

A FEMA official talks to a New Orleans resident after Hurricane Katrina.

A former FEMA worker and her cousin have been charged in Mississippi with stealing $721,000 in disaster relief money, including allegedly diverting $58,000 directly from three victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Lashonda Booker, who worked in FEMA's Biloxi office processing Katrina disaster assistance claims, is accused of conspiring with her cousin to divert FEMA funds to bank accounts Booker controlled, according to court documents filed by the U.S. Attorney Jan. 8.

Read more »