Four Orleans Levee District police officers were arrested allegations of fraud

Four Orleans Levee District police officers were arrested this week over allegations of payroll fraud, court records show.

The four officers are accused of cutting out on recent off-duty security shifts in the Lake Vista subdivision or at the New Orleans Yacht Club, then billing for the ghost work.

Sgt. Noel Sanders, 51, was booked on suspicion of public payroll fraud, theft under $1,000, and malfeasance in office. He’s accused of billing for three detail shifts at the yacht club though he was at home.

Joynal Abdin, 44, was booked on the same charges, accused of showing up but then quickly leaving paid detail shifts at Lake Vista last month. Also arrested were officers Benjamin Wilson, 43, and Jerald Holmes, 33.

The criminal counts they face involve relatively small sums, averaging a few hundred dollars in alleged ill-gotten pay, based on an investigation that involved surveillance and crime cameras. It found the officers far from the job during several paid security shifts last month, according to arrest reports.

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