03:17 PM CDT on Tuesday, May 23, 2006

Associated Press

A former New Orleans police officer is accused of cheating her insurance company out of nearly $23,300 by claiming that Hurricane Katrina's floods filled her car and ruined belongings in it.

Uchenna M. Vincent, 29, of Denver, was booked Monday on charges of insurance fraud and theft by fraud, Louisiana State Police reported Tuesday.

According to the department's insurance fraud unit, Vincent claimed that she had had to leave her 2002 Jaguar at the city's Sixth District police station when she evacuated because of the hurricane, and it was filled to the dashboard.

The insurance company sent more than $22,100 to pay off the car loan and nearly $1,200 to pay for Vincent's alleged belongings and loss of use. However, the car wasn't at the station when the insurance company tried to find it, and the station wasn't nearly as flooded as she claimed, state police said.

The undamaged car was found at her new home in Denver, where she has lived since the storm, state police said.

(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)