Looks like President Trump might have been right!
Two former FEMA officials have been arrested by federal authorities following a corruption investigation that revealed their involvement in a massive scam during Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico.
Ex-deputy regional manager Ahsha Nateef Tribble and her chief of staff Jovanda Patterson have been taken in, along with former President of Cobra Acquistions, Donald Keith Ellison on multiple charges, including disaster fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy of bribery back in 2017 during Hurricane Maria.
If you’ll recall, President Trump critiqued Puerto Rico’s response to Hurricane Maria back in his first year of presidency, causing a Democrat uproar.
But now, it looks like he may have been vindicated!
Check out the news of the FEMA corruption that hit Twitter:
What do you think?
Did President Trump call it?
CBS News has more details on the arrest and allegations of fraud committed by top FEMA officials:
Former top FEMA officials who worked in Puerto Rico during the island's recovery from Hurricane Maria were arrested on Tuesday in a federal corruption investigation. The investigation centers around alleged bribes that secured a $1.8 billion contract to repair Puerto Rico's damaged electrical grid.
Federal authorities arrested Ahsha Tribble, FEMA's former deputy regional administrator, who worked in Puerto Rico after the storm, and Donald Keith Ellison, former president of energy company Cobra Acquisitions. Jovanda Patterson, who worked as Tribble's chief of staff, was also arrested.
The indictment, which was returned by a federal grand jury in the District of Puerto Rico on Tuesday, lists 15 counts of corruption against Tribble, Ellison and Patterson. They include charges against Tribble and Ellison of conspiracy to commit bribery, honest services wire fraud and disaster fraud. Tribble was separately charged with Travel Act violations, while Ellison was separately charged with making false statements to federal agents.
Patterson, who worked directly under Tribble and was later hired by Cobra Acquisitions, was charged with committing acts affecting personal financial conflicts of interest and wire fraud.
CNBC also said:
A former administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency was arrested Tuesday for taking bribes from the president of a company that landed $1.8 billion in federal contracts to repair Puerto Rico’s electrical grid after Hurricane Maria devastated the island in September 2017.
Federal authorities arrested Ahsha Tribble, FEMA’s former deputy administrator for the region that includes Puerto Rico. Donald Keith Ellison, the former president of Cobra Acquisitions was also arrested.
They were accused of “conspiracy to commit bribery of public officials; acts affecting a personal financial interest; false statements; disaster fraud; honest services wire fraud, Travel Act violations, and wire fraud,” according to a statement from the Department of Justice.
Ms. Tribble and Mr. Ellison had a “close personal relationship” from October 2017 to April 2019, and Mr. Ellison gave Ms. Tribble gifts that ranged from personal helicopter use, hotel accommodations and personal security services, according to the DOJ statement.
Join the conversation!
Please share your thoughts about this article below. We value your opinions, and would love to see you add to the discussion!