BATON ROUGE – Two women have been arrested for fraudulently receiving FEMA funding following the August flood, Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry reports.

Landry reports that 37-year-old Kimberly Cage and 32-year-old Leslie Munoz Licona were arrested for theft and filing or maintaining false public records.

Cage allegedly applied for FEMA disaster assistance by providing false information. She received $29,898 from FEMA for home repairs, personal property and rental assistance. It was later discovered that Cage did not live in the home she claimed and she was not entitled to personal property or home repair assistance because the home was rental property.

Licona allegedly claimed her home was flooded and received $1,648 for rental assistance. However, it was later discovered that she did not live in the home at the time of the flood and falsely claimed it as her primary residence.

Both Licona and Cage were arrested by the Louisiana Bureau of Investigation and booked into the East Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office Detention Center.

Landry's office is warning potential criminals thinking of fraudulently claiming assistance following this week's severe storms and tornadoes.

"Disaster assistance, like any other form of government aid, is a precious resource reserved for those in need; people who jeopardize the programs by attempting to take advantage of taxpayers will be brought to justice," Landry said. "Our office will continue to pursue anyone who may have defrauded the government following last year's floods and this week's tornadoes."

The cases were initiated as part of Landry's partnership with the National Center for Disaster Fraud. 

If you have knowledge of fraud, waste, abuse, or allegations of mismanagement involving disaster relief operations you can contact the NCDF by calling 866-720-5721, faxing 225-334-4707 and emailing disaster@leo.gov.