A career employee with Customs and Border Protection in Detroit has been accused of defrauding FEMA of a few thousand dollars.
Back in August 2023, the Detroit area experienced a series of floods that caused considerable damage to many properties. The state of Michigan then appealed to the federal government for help, and Michigan residents were soon able to apply to the Federal Emergency Management Agency for assistance.
‘This is part of the new FBI’s renewed efforts to crack down on public corruption.’
One such Detroit resident who applied for FEMA assistance was Serina Baker-Hill, the 55-year-old director of the Center for Excellence and Expertise over Automotive and Aerospace Engineering at CBP. According to a press release from the Department of Justice, a FEMA inspector soon afterward came to Baker-Hill’s home and determined that her basement had indeed flooded.
Baker-Hill was awarded $3,125 to repair her home, WDIV reported. However, she insisted that her home was unlivable while the repairs were made. So FEMA then extended her $3,190 for two months of rental assistance, bringing her grand total from FEMA to $6,315.
Around this time, Baker-Hill’s husband was apparently under FBI investigation for allegedly trafficking narcotics. According to an affidavit cited by WDIV, FBI agents then surveilled the couple and their home and discovered that they continued to live in the residence throughout the flooding repairs.
The DOJ press release claimed that the utilities at the couple’s home showed no decline in usage, as would be expected during a prolonged absence. Baker-Hill’s bank records also revealed that she never spent the rental assistance funds on “rental, hotel, or utility expenses,” the DOJ claimed.
Federal agents even reportedly intercepted a phone call between the husband and wife, plotting to forge an HVAC document to defraud FEMA of more money. A transcription of the call is included in the affidavit, WDIV reported.
When interviewed by members of the FBI and the Office of Professional Responsibility at CBP, Baker-Hill allegedly promised that she had “never committed illegal activity of any kind and had never defrauded the U.S. government,” the press release said.
Baker-Hill has been charged with engaging in a scheme to defraud FEMA and lying to federal agents. Her husband was not named in the press release. Whether he has ever been charged with any crime is unclear.
The amount Baker-Hill allegedly stole may seem trivial compared to the tens of billions in waste, fraud, and abuse already uncovered by Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency just in the last few weeks. Nevertheless, newly confirmed FBI Director Kash Patel indicated that the charges against Baker-Hill are necessary because of her federal position.
“This is part of the new FBI’s renewed efforts to crack down on public corruption and deliver accountability for the American people,” Patel posted to X, along with a link to the press release. “Justice will be done.”
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
Read the full article here
