New York, June 28 (PTI): An NRI and his son in the US have been charged with defrauding the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) of funds meant for victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Ramesh Patel, 51, and Chirag Patel, 26, of Union City, Georgia, were detained on Monday. They had earlier been indicted by a federal grand jury on June 19, a report said.

“These defendants allegedly billed Fema by claiming that Hurricane Katrina evacuees stayed at their hotel on certain nights, when in fact they did not,” said attorney David Nahmias.

“They took advantage of the chaos created by Hurricane Katrina and milked the taxpayers of tens of thousands of dollars earmarked for emergency housing,” he was quoted as saying by the Atlanta Business Chronicle.

Since October 2005, Ramesh and Chirag owned and operated Comfort Inn Hotel at 6800 Shannon Parkway in Union City. Several Katrina refugees stayed at the hotel. Once they checked in, the defendants submitted requests for payment to Fema, which paid the hotel by cheque.