Man Charged In Theft Of Red Cross Hammond Hurricane Victim Funds

HAMMOND, IN — A man was charged Thursday, Nov. 8 with wire fraud stemming from accusations he took thousands of dollars in Hammond from the American Red Cross, The Chicago Tribune said. According to the news report, Olanrewaju A. Beyioku, 38, is said to have taken money that was supposed to be for Hurricane Harvey victims who had applied for assistance payments from the federal disaster relief funds, court records claim. Those who applied through a Red Cross website link were given a reference code to use at Walmart locations, which is where court documents reported Beyioku made the fradulent transactions, The Chicago Tribune said.

According to court documents, a Hammond Walmart located in the 7800 block of Cabela Drive had just over 80 fraudulent transactions which resulted in $32,400 between Oct. 12 and 16, 2017, with nine of those transactions made between Oct. 12 and Oct. 13 by Beyioku, totaling $3,600. Court documents claim Red Cross got calls reporting reference codes being cashed across the U.S. by people who weren't victims of the 2017 hurricane, The Chicago Tribune reported.

The codes used by Beyioku were sent to variations of the same email address, and he used an alias to buy money orders, news report said according to court documents. Investigators were able to track down Beyioku when a vehicle matching one spotted on Walmart surveillance and at another store, was seen outside a residence listed on his driver's license.

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