BEAUMONT, Texas (AP) — Two Southeast Texas men have been charged with submitting bogus invoices and stealing from government programs meant for recovery from 2005's Hurricane Rita.
The federal indictment returned Nov. 28 and unsealed Tuesday in Beaumont names Tony Lynn Thornton Sr. and Anthony Welborn Jones, both of Kountze (koontz). Each man faces charges of conspiracy to commit theft from programs receiving federal funds and two counts of theft from the programs. Thornton also faces seven counts of bank fraud.
Thornton owned a lumber yard and was chairman of Hardin County Disaster Recovery Alliance Inc., operating a residential repair program after Rita.
Jones had a home repairs and contracting company.
Prosecutors didn't immediately provide details on attorneys for the men. A phone number for the Hardin County Disaster Recovery Alliance Inc. was disconnected.
