Five Florida Keys residents have been charged in theft against a federal agency

The Category 4 storm struck on September 10, 2017, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency began accepting applications for monetary help for temporary housing, emergency home repairs, and uninsured and underinsured personal property losses. Not everyone who applied and received assistance was eligible to do so.

Mark Sell, 58, was arrested December 6 on felony counts of grand theft and uttering a false instrument. He received from FEMA $3,364 in rental assistance, $5,100 for personal property replacement and $600 for insurance coverage but allegedly was not eligible for the money.

Sell claimed his primary residence was on 72nd Street oceanside in Marathon but he allegedly lived on Aviation Boulevard. In his applications to FEMA, he reportedly forged a woman’s name on documents saying he lived at the 72nd Street house

Sell initially filed a FEMA claim on September 23, 2017, and it was denied on October 24, 2017. He appealed on October 26, 2017, and on April 10, 2018, FEMA denied him again, citing lack of supporting documentation.

On April 28, 2018, Sell submitted what seemed to be a pay stub from his employer for July and August 2017 that listed the damaged 72nd Street house as his address and FEMA finally granted him the money on May 2, 2018.

 

Scott Bruo, 39, was arrested November 29 for felony grand theft. On November 7, 2017, he received $3,364 in rental assistance and $29,764.80 for replacement housing for a Marathon trailer he allegedly falsely claimed was his primary residence.

He owned the trailer but had rented it out to two people since February 2015; they lived there until Irma. They filed to receive FEMA assistance but were denied because Bruno had previously applied on September 16, 2017, allegedly using the trailer’s address as his primary residence.

“Bruno was not eligible to receive FEMA assistance for this property because he did not reside there,” State Attorney’s Office Investigator Frank Zamora wrote in his arrest affidavit.”

James Kozmer, 58, also allegedly didn’t live at the Marathon house he claimed as his primary residence and would not have been eligible for federal financial assistance he received following the hurricane, Zamora wrote in an arrest affidavit. Kozmer was charged with grand theft on November 28.

The actual resident of the house, on Calle Ensueno near Sombrero Beach, alerted FEMA after the agency denied his family financial help because the agency told him someone (Kozmer) had already applied using the same address and received $3,364 in rental assistance on September 19, 2017.

In his application, Kozmer allegedly claimed the Calle Ensueno house as his primary residence, even though he reportedly had no personal property there and didn’t have keys to it. The owner of the house confirmed Kozmer was not the tenant.

Edward Bortree, 70, was taken into custody for grand theft on November 28.

Eleven days after the hurricane, Bortree and a woman applied for assistance, saying their property on 91st Street in Marathon “was damaged, personal property was damaged, and the utilities were out.” They allegedly stated in their application the property was their primary residence. He and the woman received $17,199.50 for home repairs, $3,364 in rental assistance and a travel trailer valued at $12,900, Zamora wrote.

Then on September 25, 2017, Bortree filed another claim with FEMA, allegedly stating his primary residence was a boat docked at 35th Street in Marathon. He claimed that due to the hurricane, “the property was damaged, personal property was damaged, and utilities were out.” FEMA provided him with $3,364 in rental assistance and $1,000 for repairs to the boat.

It turns out Bortree apparently had been living on the boat for four years and that the 91st Street property was not his primary residence when the hurricane struck. His arrest is for the money he received for the 91st Street property.

Fransesco Drago, 40, was arrested November 27 for felony grand theft for allegedly falsely claiming he lived in a mobile home on Park Avenue in Key West when Irma struck, a claim that resulted in him receiving $3,864 in FEMA assistance. Drago filed his claim for assistance three days after the hurricane.

Drago lived in the trailer with another person from March 2017 to July 14, 2017, when he reportedly moved out. “When Drago moved out, he removed all of his property from the residence,” according to Zamora’s arrest affidavit.

The hurricane wouldn’t hit for another two months yet Drago allegedly told a FEMA inspector after the hurricane the trailer was his primary residence.

In all the cases, Investigator Zamora worked with FEMA and agents Brian Calvary and Joseph Casciotta with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Office of the Inspector General.

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