An Oahu couple is facing federal criminal charges after allegedly lying about being victims of the Aug. 8, 2023, West Maui wildfires and the January Los Angeles fires—allegedly stealing more than $110, 000 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Daylyn Harris 34, and Chelsea Johnson, 32, originally from Tampa, Fla., are both charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and three counts of disaster fraud from Sept. 6, 2023, through Jan. 23.
Harris, represented by Assistant Federal Public Defender Jacquelyn T. Esser, also made claims for medical reimbursements from injuries he claimed he suffered in the Lahaina fire, that killed 102 people and leveled thousands of homes. He made his initial appearance Wednesday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Rom A. Trader and is scheduled for a preliminary hearing Tuesday.
Johnson, represented by attorney Louis M. Ching, also made her initial appearance Wednesday and was released ahead of her preliminary hearing Aug. 8.
“Miss Chelsea Johnson is a very sweet and caring young woman, ” Ching said. “She just got caught up with her then boyfriend and co-defendant, Mr. Daylyn Harris.”
If convicted, Harris and Johnson face up to 30 years in federal prison and a fine of up to $1 million on each count. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael F. Albanese is prosecuting the case.
Harris is charged with three counts of disaster fraud for allegedly lying about “lost income, lost property, lost housing, medical expenses, and other losses as a result of the Maui wildfires federal disaster, when in fact, the defendant did not reside at the damaged address and did not suffer the stated losses, ” according to an affidavit authored by a special agent with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Office of the Inspector General.
According to Maui County records, the owner of the property in Lahaina was not Johnson or Harris.
The actual owners later made FEMA claims themselves for the same property and denied renting it to Harris, Johnson or anyone else, according to federal court records.
On Sept. 6, 2023, Harris submitted an application for federal disaster assistance alleging that his rented primary residence in Lahaina had been damaged.
Harris listed Johnson as the landlord and gave an address for Johnson from Tampa.
On Sept. 8, 2023, a FEMA inspector contacted Johnson by telephone to confirm that she was Harris’ landlord.
“During the call, Johnson sounded hesitant and provided inaccurate information about the property. When confronted with the fact that the Maui real property records showed a different owner name (and showed that it was owner occupied and not rental property ), she could not explain the discrepancy and disconnected the call with the inspector, ” read the affidavit.
The same day, Harris allegedly provided a pay stub dated Aug. 4, 2023, allegedly from a restaurant in Lahaina, that was destroyed in the fires, in support of a claim for lost income. A FEMA investigator contacted the owner who confirmed that Harris had never worked for the company.
On Oct. 3, 2023, Harris submitted a request to FEMA for medical assistance claiming he did not have medical insurance. He sent in a physician statement letter dated Sept. 28, 2023, purporting to be from a major hospital system in Hawaii listing providers “Micah Johnson, M.D.” and “David Sudderth, M.D.” on the letterhead.
The letter alleged that Harris sustained injuries related to the Lahaina fires and had medical bills totaling $55, 760.32. On Oct. 6, 2023, a FEMA employee called the Hawaii hospital system Harris claimed he was a patient of and learned that “there was no record of Harris receiving treatment on the dates he reported.”
On Oct. 11, 2023, a person claiming to be Dr. Micah Olaf Johnson called FEMA to check the status of the medical assistance for applicant, but when an employee attempted to return the call, the employee was not able to get in touch with “Dr. Johnson, ” according to court records.
On Oct. 12, 2023, “Dr. Johnson ” again called and verified the medical documentation and FEMA approved payment of medical assistance.
A federal agent checked the phone number associated with “Dr. Johnson ” and found it was from an online service that allows users to make their phone numbers untraceable.
The agent found a record of Harris’ arrest in Tampa for domestic assault.
In the police report, the victim, Johnson, allegedly told Tampa police she and Harris lived together in Florida during the same time frame that Harris claimed to have lived in Lahaina.
On Sept. 21, 2023, Harris got $5, 462 in rental assistance. On Oct. 2, 2023, Harris got $13, 625 for lost personal property and 16 days later on Oct. 18, 2023, Harris got $27, 374 in “other needs assistance ”
according to federal court records.
Harris made his initial appearance Wednesday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Rom A. Trader. A preliminary hearing in his case is scheduled for July 21.
Johnson also is charged with three counts of disaster fraud.
A disaster declaration for the California wildfires was declared on Jan. 8. The fires killed 30 people and burned 37, 000 acres, destroying thousands of structures and homes.
On Jan. 11, 2025, Johnson made a claim to FEMA for damaged dwelling assistance, alleging her property in Pacific Palisades, Calif., was damaged. “The IP Address for this initial application came back to a Charter Communications, doing business as Spectrum, account registered to Harris in Honolulu, Hawaii, ” according to the affidavit.
On May 15 the DHS agent agent interviewed the owner of the Pacific Palisades property Johnson claimed to own and was told that no one else lived there, and that “he did not recognize the names of Harris or Johnson.”
In the application, Johnson claimed that as a result of the fire she paid for a 29-night stay at a hotel in Los Angeles and submitted a printed booking confirmation page from an online travel website. A DHS agent confirmed with the hotel that the reservation had been canceled because the credit card used to make it was declined.
Johnson also is accused of falsely claiming that she was employed at a pet grooming business in Santa Monica, Calif., and that she lost $3, 768 worth of pet grooming tools in the fire.
Johnson’s application and the “material fraudulent misrepresentations ” resulted in FEMA making three payments to Johnson’s bank account, each by electronic funds transfer.
On Jan. 23, Johnson got $770 for critical needs assistance. On Jan. 26, she got $9, 404 for personal property date and on Jan. 24 she got $3, 822 for displacement assistance.
According to bank rec ords, within a short period Johnson transferred over 70 % of these funds to an account in Harris’ name.