PRAIRIEVILLE — A Prairieville man was arrested after he allegedly fraudulently received more than $78,000 from state rental assistance programs, according to Attorney General Liz Murrill's office.

The AG accused landlord Brandon Brown of submitting fraudulent applications to the Office of Community Development to receive emergency rental assistance. He allegedly made applications on behalf of tenants who did not request rental assistance or did not live at the claimed property, as well as lied about his ownership of certain properties and rental amounts.

Murrill's office said Brown ran the alleged over Ascension, Livingston and St. John parishes between March 2020 and June 2021.

Brown was arrested by the AG's Louisiana Bureau of Investigation and booked into the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison for a felony theft by fraud charge.