Federal Officials Pursue Fraud Case Against Customs Official

A U.S. Customs and Border Protection official in Detroit has been charged in a scheme to defraud the Federal Emergency Management Agency and with making false statements to federal officials, the authorities announced on Wednesday.

A criminal complaint against the official, Serina Baker-Hill, was unsealed on Wednesday, the U.S. attorney’s office for the Eastern District of Michigan said in a news release. Ms. Baker-Hill, 55, is a career customs employee and the director of an agency center focused on the automotive and aerospace industries. She was arrested and later released on bond, according to a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney’s office. It is unclear who carried out the arrest, or when.

Ms. Baker-Hill applied for FEMA disaster assistance after powerful storms flooded thousands of homes, including her own, in the Detroit area in August 2023, according to the criminal complaint.

The complaint said that a FEMA inspector confirmed there had been damage to the basement of the home she shared with her husband, and Ms. Baker-Hill claimed she could not safely live in her home while it underwent repairs.

FEMA approved funds for the repairs as well as two months of rental assistance, specifying the money was to be used for rent and essential utility costs while she was in temporary housing, according to the criminal complaint. The complaint said she received about $6,300 from the agency.

However, the complaint said investigators discovered that bank records showed none of the funds were used for rent, hotel stays or utilities. And video surveillance and utility records indicated that Ms. Baker-Hill and her husband continued living in their home, officials said in the complaint.