Kash Patel Announces the Prosecution of a "Director Level" CBP Employee Who Defrauded the Federal Government of FEMA Funds and Lied to Federal Agents

The best and the brightest.

FBI Director Kash Patel @FBIDirectorKash

TODAY: Following efforts with our interagency partners, I can report that a career Director level employee at US Customs and Border Protection has been charged with allegedly attempting to defraud FEMA, as well as lying to federal agents.

This is part of the new FBI’s renewed efforts to crack down on public corruption and deliver accountability for the American people.

Justice will be done.

Thanks to our partners @AGPamBondi @TheJusticeDept and our @FBIDetroit
team for their work.

Here's the scam: She claimed that flooding damaged her basement, and then claimed further that FEMA should pay to fix the damages. I don't know if those claims are real.

She then doubled down on fraud and claimed she could not live in her house while her basement was being fixed, so she asked for, and received, rental subsidies to pay her rent as she lived in a rented apartment.

But she didn't rent another place. She stayed home and pocketed the money which was supposedly paying for her necessary second residence.

DIRECTOR AT CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION CHARGED WITH SCHEME TO FRAUDULENTY OBTAIN DISASTER AID AND LYING TO FEDERAL AGENTS

Wednesday, March 12, 2025

For Immediate Release

U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Michigan

DETROIT -- A federal criminal complaint was unsealed today charging the Director of United States Customs and Border Protection's (CBP) Center for Excellence and Expertise over Automotive and Aerospace Engineering with engaging in a scheme to defraud the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and lying to federal agents, Acting United States Attorney Julie A. Beck announced.

Beck was joined in the announcement by Cheyvoryea Gibson, Special Agent in Charge of the Detroit Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and Daniel Altman, Executive Director of CBP's Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR).

Serina Baker-Hill, 55, of Detroit, is a career employee of CBP. Following a series of floods in the Detroit area in August of 2023, Michigan's request for a federal disaster declaration was approved, which allowed residents to apply for FEMA assistance. Baker-Hill applied for FEMA assistance for flood damage and a FEMA inspector determined there was damage to the basement in Baker-Hill's home. During the inspection, Baker-Hill informed the inspector she was not able to live safely in the home while the repairs were being made. Consequently, FEMA approved benefits for Baker Hill to assist with home repairs and for two months of rental assistance. The approval letter from FEMA indicated that the rental assistance money was to be used solely to help Baker-Hill pay rent and essential utility costs while she was in temporary housing.

According to Baker-Hill's bank records, none of the FEMA money was used for rental, hotel, or utility expenses. Video surveillance at the home showed that Baker-Hill and her husband continued to live in the home after receiving the rental assistance funds from FEMA. Additionally, records for the home do not show a significant drop in utilities consistent with the property being unoccupied during this time.

Baker-Hill was later interviewed by FBI and CBP-OPR agents and informed them that she has never committed illegal activity of any kind and had never defrauded the U.S. government.

According to the Washington Times, this dedicated Civil Servant (thank you for your service) is also being investigated for drug trafficking.

Senior DHS official investigated for drug trafficking, charged with disaster fraud

By Stephen Dinan - The Washington Times - Wednesday, March 12, 2025

A senior official at the Department of Homeland Security was being investigated for potential involvement in drug trafficking, according to new court files unsealed Tuesday.

The revelation came in a case in which authorities charged the official, Serina Baker Hill, with bilking the government out of thousands of dollars in disaster relief money for a home she claimed was made unlivable because of flooding.

Court documents show agents detected the disaster scam while listening to wiretap conversations between Ms. Hill and her husband, Maurice Hill, whom they suspected of drug trafficking. They were monitoring Ms. Hill's communications too because of her role as director of Customs and Border Protection's Center for Excellence and Expertise over Automotive and Aerospace Engineering.

"During the course of the investigations, it was discovered that both HILL and Maurice had engaged in a scheme to defraud FEMA after flooding occurred in Detroit, Michigan on August 24, 2023," wrote FBI Special Agent Andrew J. Matas.

When agents confronted Ms. Hill in a 2024 interview, she lied to them, Mr. Matas said.

...

Ms. Hill is charged with lying, wire fraud, disaster fraud and making false statements to the government. That latter charge stems from her denying that she had never defrauded the government.

In the court documents, Mr. Matas said the FBI has been probing Mr. Hill for drug trafficking and "other offenses." That's why they were monitoring his phone and electronic communications.

Democrats will be holding sparsely-attended rallies for the criminal within days. She has a perfect defense against the charges: Muh Racism.

posted by Ace at 05:38 PM

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