A federal grand jury has indicted a former employee of the New Orleans Sewerage and Water Board for allegedly clocking hours she didn’t work and for allegedly impersonating people on fake documents she created to illegally access federal assistance.
According to federal prosecutors, Leessa Augustine, 46, is charged with four counts of wire fraud, two counts of aggravated identity theft, and one count of making false statements.
Prosecutors accuse Augustine, who was also a reserve New Orleans Police Department officer, of billing a police detail customer for hours she didn’t work. Augustine is also accused of creating fake documents to run a mortgage fraud scheme during hours she clocked for working an NOPD detail for the Downtown Development District. Prosecutors allege that Augustine used her SWB-issued computer to commit that fraud. Augustine is also accused of receiving federal unemployment benefits by concealing her SWB income and of receiving federal emergency rental assistance funds from the city of New Orleans by submitting a fake lease and a fake termination letter from an employer that didn’t exist.
Prosecutors say Augustine provided her SWB-issued cell phone number for three people she impersonated when creating those fake documents.
Augustine who was employed by the SWB as a senior special agent, a position in which she was tasked with investigating other SWB employees accused of wrongdoing.
If convicted, Augustine faces up to 30 years in prison and up to $250,000 in fines.
