Gulf Breeze man faces fraud charge
BY FRANKLIN HAYES Gulf Breeze News franklin@gulfbreezenews.com

Wehner

A Gulf Breeze man is accused of fraudulently collecting $40,000 from the Small Business Administration (SBA) to pay for Hurricane Katrina damages that investigators say never happened.

Stephen P. Wehner was indicted by a federal grand jury last week, accused of making false claims on a loan application and spending the loan for his own use.

According to the indictment, Wehner claimed his personal property in New Orleans suffered over $27,000 in damages and losses as a result of Hurricane Katrina. The indictment states that Wehner, who has lived on Birdseye Circle in Gulf Breeze since 2006, listed an apartment in the French Quarter of New Orleans as his primary address when Katrina struck the Gulf Coast in 2005. The indictment states Wehner faxed the SBA an itemized list of personal property damaged by the notorious hurricane. The federal document says between Nov. 16, 2006 and March 2, 2007, the SBA electronically transferred a total of $40,000 to Wehner's bank account in Gulf Breeze.

"Thereafter, Stephen P. Wehner spent the proceeds of this loan for his own use, knowing that he had not sustained loss due to damage to his personal property in New Orleans, Louisiana, and knowing that his claims for an SBA disaster loan were false, fictitious and fraudulent," the indictment says.

According to the Orleans Parish Property Assessor's website, the apartment in question, located on the 800 block of Bienville Street in New Orleans, is owned by the Canal Street Development Corporation. Historic Restoration, Inc. (HRI) of New Orleans manages the property for the non-profit organization. Representatives from HRI said the apartment complex did sustain flooding as a result of the hurricane, but were unable to provide details or cost estimates about specific damages to the apartment as of press time.

If convicted, Wehner could face up to five years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine.

"I look forward to working on this case," said Wehner's lawyer, Shelley Reynolds. "He has a good case and there are some issues that will come to light that need to be investigated."

In September 2005, the Department of Justice created the Hurricane Katrina Fraud Task Force, designed to deter, investigate and prosecute disaster-related federal crimes. Special Agent Louis Desselle, with the SBA Office of Inspector General in New Orleans, investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen P. Preisser of the Pensacola Division is prosecuting attorney.

According to court documents in Santa Rosa and Escambia Counties, Wehner has been accused of fraud before. In July of this year, Wehner was sentenced to 24 months of probation and to stay away from J.C. Penny and Lowe's for allegedly stealing credit cards and using them. According to the related court records, Wehner plead no contest to the charges in both counties and was ordered to pay $1,963.49 in restitution to J.C. Penny.

Wehner could not be reached for comment as of press time.