ASHEVILLE, N.C. (WLOS) — A man was federally indicted on charges after falsely claiming his home was damaged by Hurricane Helene, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina, Russ Ferguson, announced.
A federal grand jury in Asheville indicted Christian Michael Hall, 49, of Drexel, N.C., on charges of defrauding the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), according to the press release.
On or about Sept. 30, 2024, Hall filed for a disaster application with FEMA seeking benefits for a home in Valdese that was damaged by Helene, according to the indictment. Hall claimed the Valdese property was his primary residence, even though he did not own, rent or live there.
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As a result of the false application, Hall received about $20,932.14 in FEMA benefits, according to the indictment.
Hall was charged…
PAYROLL & HR CONTROLS (PREVENTING “GHOST” SCHEMES)
Payroll fraud is often the hardest to detect because it “looks” like a normal business expense.
- Segregation of Duties (SoD): The person who adds new employees to the system must not be the same person who approves the monthly pay run.
- Mandatory Vacation Policy: Require all financial and HR staff to take 5–10 consecutive days of leave annually. Fraud often surfaces when the perpetrator isn’t there to “hide” the trail.
- Ghost Employee Audit: Perform a quarterly “Headcount Reconciliation” where managers must physically verify every name on their payroll list exists.
- Self-Pay Blocking: Ensure the payroll software has a hard-coded block preventing administrators from editing their own salary or bank details.