Man pretends to own home destroyed by CA fire, gets $65,000 from FEMA, feds say
A California man scammed FEMA into sending him nearly $65,000 by pretending to own a home destroyed by one of the wildfires that burned in Los Angeles County in January, federal prosecutors said.
Delvonne Dashon Johnson, 31, of East Hollywood, is one of four California residents who were arrested April 24 on charges of fraud related to disaster relief funds meant to help those affected by the fires, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California.
Attorney information for Johnson wasn’t immediately available April 28.
Johnson fraudulently claimed FEMA benefits on Feb. 4, when he reported that he owned a Pacific Palisades home burned by the Palisades Fire, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in an April 25 news release.
That month, FEMA issued Johnson $64,138 in disaster relief, according to prosecutors.
He’s accused of submitting the claim a few days after the Palisades Fire was contained, which was the morning of Jan. 31, per the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. The wildfire began Jan. 7 and burned for 24 days, killing 12 people.
The cause of the Palisades Fire is unclear and is still being investigated as of April 28, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection reports.
On April 2, the homeowner of the residence Johnson lied about owning told authorities that when she tried to file a disaster assistance claim with FEMA, the agency informed her someone else submitted a claim for her house, prosecutors said.
The woman reported to law enforcement that she owned and lived at the Pacific Palisades home, her “primary residence,” since 2015, according to prosecutors.
She didn’t know Johnson, she told authorities, prosecutors said.
Johnson was due for his first appearance in Los Angeles federal court on April 25, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
An Arizona woman is also accused of wrongly receiving thousands of FEMA benefits in connection with the January Los Angeles County wildfires — alongside Johnson and three other California residents arrested April 24.
She was taken into state custody on April 23 “on an unrelated matter and is expected to make her initial appearance in federal court in the coming weeks,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
If Johnson and the other defendants, who are separately charged, are convicted of fraud, they could each be sentenced to up to 30 years in prison, prosecutors said.
Concerns or information about suspected FEMA disaster-relief fraud can be reported to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General hotline by calling 800-323-8603 or to the HSI tip line by calling 866-347-2423.
This story was originally published April 28, 2025 at 5:12 PM with the headline "Man pretends to own home destroyed by CA fire, gets $65,000 from FEMA, feds say."
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