Houstonian charged with filing over $500,000 in fraudulent disaster relief loans

HOUSTON - A 26-year-old woman is set to appear in federal court for conspiracy to commit wire fraud, announced U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani.

Khalia Douglas is expected to make her initial appearance before U.S. District Judge Yvonne Ho at 2 p.m.

According to the criminal information filed April 16, from March 2020 until June 2021, Douglas allegedly submitted false and fraudulent applications to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Small Business Administration, the U.S. government and a bank for financial assistance.

As part of the alleged scheme, Douglas gave instructions to co-conspirators on

how to fraudulently apply for FEMA assistance and allegedly assisted others in applying for FEMA rental assistance. Douglas allegedly received payment from co-conspirators for assisting them in filing fraudulent FEMA applications for assistance with rentals, critical needs and personal property assistance. Douglas also helped others in filing false applications for Paycheck Protection Payment loans, Economic Injury Disaster Loan assistance and bank loans, according to the charges.

Douglas allegedly assisted in filing the false applications causing an attempted loss of $514,415.

If convicted, Douglas faces up to five years in federal prison and a possible $250,000 maximum fine.

The Department of Homeland Security - Office of Inspector General conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Rodolfo Ramirez is prosecuting the case.

An information is a formal accusation of criminal conduct, not evidence. A defendant is presumed innocent unless convicted through due process of law.