PHOENIX (AZFamily) — A woman from Maricopa is facing fraud charges after investigators say she filed for disaster benefits in the aftermath of a California wildfire, for a location that she never lived at — and that doesn’t even exist.
Katrina Woods appeared in federal court in Phoenix on June 18 on a charge of fraud in connection with major disaster or emergency benefits.
In a criminal complaint filed by an agent with the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General, they said Woods submitted a claim for emergency benefits in the aftermath of devastating wildfires that destroyed numerous structures in the Los Angeles area in January. However, investigators say there is no evidence Woods ever lived at the address on the application, and the address itself doesn’t even exist…