NEW ORLEANS (AP) - A Mississippi woman is accused of posing as a federal worker and scamming nearly $216,000 by giving phony training classes to fishermen who wanted jobs cleaning up the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

A federal indictment unsealed Wednesday alleges that 46-year-old Connie M. Knight posed as the highest-ranking female trainer in the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to defraud more than 1,000 people from August through December 2010.

She allegedly targeted people from Southeast Asia, many of whom could not read or speak English.

The 22-count indictment also accuses her of creating false OSHA badges for four members of southeast Louisiana fishing communities whom she hired.

According to a news release, she was then living in Belle Chasse, but was arrested Wednesday at her current home in Wiggins, Miss.

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