Another FEMA inspector, Mark S. Verheyden, now 45, was charged in 1994 with soliciting a $500 kickback from a federal disaster aid applicant near Houston. He pleaded guilty to bribery and served 26 months in federal prison in Marianna.
By then he already had a lengthy criminal record in Florida. During a 1983 arrest, an Orange County sheriff’s deputy had to tie Verheyden’s feet with rope after he tried to kick out the windows of a patrol car, a police report says.
He received 10 years’ probation in 1986 for kidnapping and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon after he forced a former girlfriend into his car, put a construction-type nail gun to her ribs, and ordered her to drive to an “unknown dirt road in an orange grove,” court records state.
“After about three hours of begging to be released,” records say, “she decided to lie to Verheyden and tell him that she loved him again and would move in with him again.”
Verheyden, who could not be located for comment, also had convictions for battery, driving with a suspended license, resisting arrest without violence, leaving the scene of an accident, contempt of court and reckless driving.
Cynthia Leath of Crosby, Texas, had no reason to distrust Verheyden when FEMA sent him to her home in 1994 after she filed a flood damage claim. Verheyden worked for a private company that no longer has a contract with FEMA. Leath said she was unaware that he was not directly employed by the agency.
“He had a sign on his truck that said FEMA,” she recalled. “He had a badge on his shirt, with his picture and big bold FEMA letters.”
Once in her home, Verheyden asked Leath for sex and $500 in return for inflating her claim, she said. Leath reported Verheyden and helped authorities catch him on tape seeking a bribe.
Through the court case, Leath learned of Verheyden’s criminal past.
“I couldn’t believe it,” she said. “He’s a representative of the government here to help me.”
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