JACKSON, Miss. - A man who tried to market a board game about government shortcomings after Hurricane Katrina has been charged with using dozens of money orders that were stolen in New Orleans the same year the storm hit the Gulf Coast.
More than 100 of the Western Union Winn-Dixie money orders were found during an FBI raid this week at an office in north Jackson, according to court records.
Curtis B. Lyons, also known as Curtis Bordenave, was arrested Tuesday and charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to make, utter or possess forged securities. A hearing was scheduled Mnday in U.S. District Court in Jackson.
More than 200 of the stolen money orders were cashed or used to make fraudulent purchases in several states, according an FBI affidavit in the case. The affidavit said some of the purchases were made from wholesalers, but it gave no indication of what kind of products.
Lyons' public defender, Omodare Jupiter, declined to comment on the case.
Court records don't describe the theft of the money orders in detail, only saying a shipment of numbered Western Union Winn-Dixie money orders was stolen in 2005 in New Orleans. It was not immediately clear whether they were stolen before or after Katrina hit.
Winn-Dixie is "cooperating with authorities in this matter and is unable to comment further on this ongoing investigation," Winn-Dixie Stores Inc. spokesman Joshua Whitton said.
Lons is the creator of a game called "Hurricane Katrina -- The Game the Government Played."
The game gives players a government stipend and is meant to show the difficulty in navigating bureaucracy in the wake of a natural disaster, according to a description on Lyon's Web site. When the player runs out of money, the game's over.
Lyons tried to sell the idea to several companies but apparently had little success, according to a 2007 interview in The Clarion-Ledger newspapers in Jackson.
The newspaper later filed a patent claim against Lyons in a trademark dispute related to a Web site he runs -- Jackson's VIP. The Clarion-Ledger has a magazine with a similar name, VIP Jackson Magazine.
There's a Jackson's VIP sign outside the office that was raided. No one answered the door there Thursday and nobody has responded to phone calls from The Associated Press. The Web site's link to purchase the Katrina game was not working Friday.
Lyons has used the names Curtis Paul Bordenave, Curtis Bordenave Lyons and Curtis Paul Bordenave Jr., according to unrelated bankruptcy records in federal court.
Court records show he's been involved in numerous federal court cases, mostly related to trademark disputes with various companies or bankruptcy claims.
In the 2007 interview with the Jackson newspaper, Lyons said the idea for his Katrina game came after his family survived the storm in New Orleans and had bad experiences with the government.
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
