The St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff’s Office is warning the public about a bizarre scheme that is becoming more common.
Deputies have arrested two people accused of moving into a vacant home that wasn’t theirs and going through some pretty extreme steps to make it look like they owned it.
50 YO Lewis Giles Jr. and his daughter 23 YO Kayla LaShawn Giles, both of LaPlace, were arrested last week in connection to a major financial crimes investigation conducted by the St. John Parish Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies said through the use of mail and falsified public filings, both Giles Jr. and his daughter conspired to unlawfully deprive and remove/evict the proper registered owners of the respective residences from the public record.
Deputies said the pair was able to use mail with the property’s address to file a bogus deed with the parish Clerk of Court office, and they’re accused of doing it to several homes.
The majority of these victims were recovering from Hurricane Ida.
