Fraud in the Rubble? Man Accused of Being Disaster Relief Impostor
Prosecutor: Gerald Flint posed as government rescuer in tornado-hit Indiana.
April 3, 2012 — -- In the aftermath of the monster tornado last month the people of Henryville, Indiana, needed all the help they could get and Gerald Flint, dressed in his trademark flight suit, was welcomed with open arms as he showed up and started issuing orders.
Once Flint arrived he "portrayed himself as some kind of commander, an on-scene commander," tornado relief volunteer Jerry Lucas said.
When he introduced himself, Flint said he was with a natural disaster relief group, according to local volunteer Kevin Coley. Others said Flint also claimed he was with Homeland Security and the EPA and took charge of teams of volunteers.
Then, among the rubble left by the deadly storm, Flint began to collect loads of emergency supplies.
"We got his truck loaded up, his trailer up and off they go," said Rose Aycock, director of the local Covenant Cooperative Food Pantry.
But despite all of Flint's badges and claims, people in Henryville began to have suspicions, especially when they said he asked residents to collect donations. Coley said Flint had asked contributors to make their checks out to cash.
It was enough for people in Henryville to call the state police and now Flint has been accused of stealing of some of the supplies and impersonating a government official.
Watch the ABC News full report tonight on "Nightline" at 11:35 pm ET.
According to Clark County Chief Deputy Prosecutor Jeremy Mull, Flint is not an agent of any federal office, much less the Department of Homeland Security.
In a jail house interview, Flint denied the charges and said he never told people he was with Homeland Security. However, he did tell ABC News he was "climbing the ladder with Homeland Security [and] had to use some protocols with Homeland Security to report the things I saw. That was my duty," -- a claim authorities said is not true.
ABC News also found that before he was arrested in Indiana, Flint had been hitting disaster areas all over the world for years. Video posted by Flint on his website even shows him conducting medical procedures on a young woman in Africa and children in Vietnam.
Though Flint is a military veteran with medical evacuation background, when ABC News asked Flint if he had a medical degree, Flint said he "can't answer that."
Indiana authorities said they hope Flint's great impostor act has now been exposed, thanks to the people in Henryville, which is still reeling from the damage done by the devastating tornado.
Coley said that even though he feels scammed by Flint, he feels better now that Flint has been exposed.
"It really takes away from the good feeling of what you are doing, that you got taken advantage of, you were duped," he said. But now, he said, "it feels good. The next person isn't going to have to go through this."
In court, Flint entered a plea of not guilty, telling the judge he had served his country faithfully and now wanted to clear his name.
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