LOS ANGELES, Sept. 18 (UPI) -- A man and a woman are accused of stealing at least $500 in a Hurricane Katrina charity scam.
Tino Lee and Gina Liz Nicholas were charged Friday with impersonating an American Red Cross worker to fraudulently collect money, the Los Angeles Times reported.
A 14-year-old girl was also arrested and later released to her parents. She has not been charged with a crime.
The trio were arrested Thursday as they sat at a table outside a Best Buy store in Burbank. They had a collection box with a sign that read "American Red Cross-Hurricane Disaster," according to court documents.
Burbank police say they questioned the three after becoming suspicious about their laminated Red Cross badges. A Red Cross official told police the three were not volunteers for the relief agency.
Thom Mrozek, spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in Los Angeles, said his office believes this could be one of the first charity scam cases brought in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the newspaper said.
