5 charged in scheme to defraud Dolly Parton's wildfire relief fund

Five people have been charged in an elaborate scheme to defraud a fund set up by singer Dolly Parton to aid Gatlinburg wildfire victims. Parton, a Sevier County native, established the Dollywood Foundation's My People Fund soon after last year's wildfires, which claimed 14 lives and destroyed thousands of homes and businesses. Debra Kay Catlett, her son, Chad Alan Chambers, and three associates — Rocco Boscalia, Ammie Lyons and Esther Pridemore — are charged in a sealed presentment handed up by a Sevier County grand jury earlier this year with a conspiracy to defraud the My People Fund. Chambers is alleged in the indictments to be the chief architect of the scam, although it was his mother's database of rental properties that made it possible, according to records reviewed by USA TODAY Network-Tennessee. The suspects face charges including money laundering, criminal conspiracy and felony theft. An arraignment date in Sevier County Criiminal Court had not been set Wednesday. Dotson said Wednesday that the My People Fund had aided 900 families to the tune of $9 million in the first six months after the fires. Dotson said each family legitimately displaced by the fire was given $1,000 per month for five months after the deadly blaze and then $5,000 in the sixth month. Funds left over after that initial six-month commitment made by Parton and the foundation were then turned over to another wildfire relief organization, Mountain Tough, he said...more