New Orleans Woman Charged with Defrauding Gulf Coast Claims Facility

NEW ORLEANS—ROKEISHA BARRIOS, age 32, a resident of New Orleans, LA, was charged with wire fraud today in a one-count bill of information relating to a fraudulent application she made in her husband’s name to the Gulf Coast Claims Facility (GCCF) for financial assistance during the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, announced U.S. Attorney Jim Letten.

According to the bill of information, the GCCF made disaster assistance money available to individuals and businesses affected by the oil spill resulting from the Deepwater Horizon explosion on April 20, 2010. The GCCF required victims claiming to have suffered a loss due to the oil spill to submit a truthful application stating the reason for their loss due to the oil spill and verifying income losses. Documents would demonstrate that beginning in October 2010, the defendant submitted, electronically, an application to the GCCF in the name of her husband, ROBERTO BARRIOS, for emergency advance payments for business losses. The information in the application was false and fraudulent as to her husband’s business as a commercial fisherman and as to his employment as a hotel employee before the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. As a result of this false and fraudulent application and documentation, BARRIOS received, in a joint checking account, $22,600 in emergency advance payments on November 23, 2010. Further, BARRIOS received a final GCCF claim payment in the amount of $11,307.50 on or about March 21, 2011.

If convicted, BARRIOS faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years, a $250,0000 fine, full restitution to the Gulf Coast Claims Facility, three years of supervised release following imprisonment, and $100 special assessment. U.S. Attorney Letten reiterated that the bill of information is merely a charge and that the guilt of the defendant must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Marvin Opotowsky, Disaster Fraud Coordinator.