On September 27, 2022, Georgia resident Tiffany Brown was indicted on 11 counts of major disaster fraud, 14 counts of wire fraud, one count of theft of government money, and three counts of money laundering.
After Category 4 Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico in September 2017, Brown allegedly submitted a proposal to FEMA claiming that her company, Tribute Contracting LLC, could deliver 30 million meals to Puerto Rico’s residents in 30 days. She allegedly stated that her core suppliers had confirmed as much, when in reality, no such supplier existed. In the coming days, Brown worked to secure a source for millions of self-heating meals but could not find one.
As a result of her alleged misrepresentations, Tribute was awarded a $162 million contract with a scheduled delivery of 30 million meals in 30 days. After being awarded the contract, Brown allegedly continued to make misrepresentations to FEMA representatives, such as blaming a delay in delivering the first set of meals on the weather when in reality the meals were not ready. FEMA quickly terminated the contract with Brown on October 23, and thereafter Brown allegedly submitted false invoices for reimbursement.
Brown was arraigned on October 13, 2002 in the Northern District of Georgia, and pleaded not guilty. She was released on a $10,000 bond.
The attorneys at Chilivis Grubman represent clients of all types and sizes in connection with white-collar criminal investigations and government fraud investigations. If you need assistance with such a matter, please contact us today.