(Fort Lauderdale, Florida)  Florida police have obtained a warrant for a man accused of conning the American Red Cross out of $68,000 by claiming his domestic partner died in the Sept. 11 attack on the World Trade Center.

The warrant was issued by Ft Lauderdale police ten months after the scam was first unearthed by a Florida gay paper. Police blame the delay on the Red Cross which was slow in turning over files.

The warrant alleges that Patric Ian Henn, 27, went after emergency relief organizations following the terrorist attack saying his partner was the sole breadwinner in the family.

The Red Cross, which came to the aid of countless families affected by the tragedy bought Henn's story and handed over more than $68,000 in cash, travel expenses and rent payments. 

It is believed other agencies may also have been bilked.  Only Empire State Pride Agenda, New York's largest gay organization and which also helped gay families which were impacted by 911, wanted proof of his claims.

When he could not get money from Pride Agenda he went to The Express, the largest gay paper in South Florida, complaining that the gay group was stonewalling him.

But, when Henn began to change his story, about his partner and where they had lived in Fort Lauderdale, Express editors became suspicious. To add to those suspicions Henn had no documentation to prove any of his claims.

The Express discovered that on September 11, 2001, Patric Henn was living alone, by the seat of his pants, in cheap weekly rentals. The paper also learned he had been evicted from a series of apartments, and neither owned property or vehicles in his name, as he claimed to the agencies.

“What can I say? His addresses did not check out, his past roommates verified he was a phony, his employers did not exist and everything about his supposed partner’s identity was utterly fictitious," said Express Publisher Norm Kent.

But, in the time that lapsed between The Express' expose and the issuing of the warrant, Henn has disappeared.  He has been reportedly sighted in various parts of the country since leaving Fort Lauderdale and is possibly in the New Orleans area.

If convicted Henn faces up to 15 years in prison.

©365Gay.com Ltd® 2002

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