HOUSTON, Texas — A 56-year-old Houston resident has admitted to wire fraud, disaster-related fraud, and threatening a witness, according to Acting U.S. Attorney John G.E. Marck.
From 2019 to 2024, Sharai Poteet engaged in a scheme to fraudulently obtain disaster-relief housing assistance and additional federal benefits. During the investigation, she also threatened to kill a witness and assaulted a federal officer. Poteet submitted fraudulent loan applications claiming 11 people, including seven children and a disabled adult, were members of her household. As a result, she received assistance in the form of a custom seven-bedroom home, according to the press release.
The funds used to construct the home were intended to help Hurricane Harvey victims through a Department of Housing and Urban Development program. The home Poteet received was the largest the program had built at that time. The investigation revealed Poteet submitted three fraudulent applications for disaster assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for storms that occurred between 2021 and 2024. During the investigation, she threatened a whistleblower in an attempt to silence them…