Knott County officials warn against flood-related scams

HINDMAN, Ky. (WYMT) - While thousands have come to Eastern Kentucky with the intention of helping flood victims, some have other ideas.

A warrant has been issued for Christian Soehnlein, a man from Somerset who is accused of taking $4,000 from an elderly woman without completing any work.

“This particular individual, I guess, when there was a need for FEMA estimates, had contacted various non-profit entities and agreed to come here and do some estimates for the folks who were to get the FEMA appeal started,” Knott County Attorney Tim Bates said.

The Soehnlein case does not stand alone, as Bates’ office has received a lot of complaints related to fraud.

Especially given the circumstances, flood victims are in need of people they can trust.

“At their darkest hour they don’t need to worry about someone coming in and taking advantage of them, they need our help,” local volunteer Kate Clemons said.

Clemons has been serving a thousand meals each day since the flood, and she has even given out forms asking what all people need along with food.

“So that’s why I’m still here because those thousand people who come to me every day have become my family and they are being scammed, they’re being taken advantage of and it’s horrible,” she said.

That makes prosecution even more important for Knott County officials, which is why they’ve started with a warrant for Soehnlein.

“This kind of action does show that here in Knott County, we’re not gonna tolerate people being taken advantage of,” Tim Bates said.

Bates encourages anyone suspicious of fraud to report the actions to local law enforcement.

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