DIANE SAWYER (ABC NEWS)(OC): And now an ABC News investigation. Chief investigative correspondent Brian Ross on the case of a man who raced into the eye of a disaster, taking charge, assuring a devastated town in Indiana, he was there to help. But was he really there to help the town or himself?
DIANE SAWYER (ABC NEWS)(VO): As Brian Ross discovered, he has left a trail of questions that could extend all across the world.
BRIAN ROSS (ABC NEWS)(VO): In the aftermath of what was a monster tornado last month...
RESIDENT : Look at the multiple vortices.
BRIAN ROSS : The people of Henryville, Indiana, needed all the help they could get. So when Gerald Flint showed up, dressed in the kind of flight suit he's worn to disasters all over the world, he was welcomed with open arms as he started to issue orders.
JERRY LUCAS (TORNADO DISASTER VOLUNTEER): He portrayed himself as some kind of commander.
KEVIN COLEY : Saying that he was with the natural disaster relief group.
BRIAN ROSS (ABC NEWS)(VO): And then Flint began to collect loads of emergency supplies.
ROSE AYCOCK : We get his truck loaded up, his trailer loaded up and off they go.
BRIAN ROSS : But despite all of Flint's badges and claims, people in Henryville began to have suspicions, especially when they say he asked residents to collect donations.
KEVIN COLEY : Collecting cash and having people make checks out to cash.
OFFICER (MALE): Turn around please.
BRIAN ROSS (ABC NEWS)(VO): It was enough for people in Henryville to call the state police. And now Flint has been charged with the theft of some of the supplies and impersonating a government official.
BRIAN ROSS (ABC NEWS)(OC): So based on what you know, he was a great imposter?
JEREMY MULL : That's correct, yes.
BRIAN ROSS (ABC NEWS)(VO): In a jailhouse interview, Flint denied the charges, but then told ABC News he did have a role with Homeland Security.
GERALD FLINT (ACCUSED): I'm climbing the ladder with Homeland Security.
BRIAN ROSS : A claim authorities say is not true.
GERALD FLINT (ACCUSED): My name is Gerald Flint.
BRIAN ROSS (ABC NEWS)(VO): And ABC News found that until he was arrested in Indiana Flint had been hitting disaster areas for years. Videos posted by Flint on his website even show him conducting medical procedures on a young woman in Africa.
PRODUCER : Do you have a medical degree or license?
GERALD FLINT (ACCUSED): I can't answer that.
BRIAN ROSS (ABC NEWS)(VO): Indiana authorities say they hope Flint's great imposter act has now been exposed, thanks to the people in Henryville, still reeling from first the tornado, and now the imposter.
KEVIN COLEY : It really takes away from the good feeling you have for what you're doing is that you got taken advantage of, you were duped.
BRIAN ROSS : In court, Flint entered a plea of not guilty, telling the judge he had served his country faithfully and now wanted to clear his name. The people of Henryville say they can't wait to hear what he has to say now, Diane.
DIANE SAWYER (ABC NEWS)(OC): Henryville turned Sherlock Holmes.