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http://www.irishexaminer.com/breakin...z3x&n=79536308Quote:
Investigators even told Congress that one man apparently used Fema assistance money for a sex change operation.
I work for a living. What I pay in taxes prevents me from getting the
things I want and need to live my life to the full. What is the
reasonable limit on this stuff? Don't normal people have
any rights, or are criminals and psychopaths the only ones
who matter?
:cool:
That's an eye opening amount to have wrong, usually it's around 1% for mistaken accounts or audits of any kind, thanks to the fudge factors, so 16% is extreme to say the least. Obviously no oversight went along with this funding.....Quote:
Agents from the General Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, found that as much as 16% of the money spent in assistance went on false claims.
Somebody had a good time on tax payers money, hopefully they dig real deep and prosecute those who took advantage of a messy situation.... :mad:Quote:
Fema could not establish that 750 debit cards worth $1.5m even went to Katrina victims, the auditors said.
My understanding at the time, it was incredibly difficult for anyone to check anything. You had people moving around everywhere from friends, family, shelter to shelter, hotel rooms and any permanant contact information was largely irrelevant since it was by and large destroyed/uninhabitable and things like phone lines down...Not to mention many people that fled their homes didn't bring or lost important documents like social security cards, driver's licenses, etc...
So the people fill out the forms with bogus information that on the surface checked out...
How you going to find them? You gonna tell people that were, at a minimum, without many basic necessities for around a week that they'll have to wait another week for the background information to filter in and be checked?
Don't get me wrong, I abhore the gross abuse of the charity and good will of the american public, but I also think it unfair to fail to take into consideration the conditions at the time...
As Chaotic as it was, if (hindsight being 20-20) FEMA had in place all that would be required to respond to such an event at the time, a lot of the bungling going on would most likely not have happened in the first place.
I agree when responding from nothing, mistakes are going to be made, and IMO some of those who benefited from these mistakes are for all intents and purposes innocent, however the charlatans who seeing the obvious gaggle feck that was going on had the smarts to take advantage of this situation, and it's those people who need to be found and prosecuted, I remember a bit about the news as it was happening some guy had actually set up a website for donations, and I am sure he was receiving some of it from the agencies involved with the response to this tragic situation (I believe he got caught).
If a comprehensive plan is in place to deal with these situations then the chance for mistakes are minimized, should be SOP (Standard Operating Procedures).
look up 'corruption' in a dictionary and New Oleans and Loiusianna are in the list :(
DC was probably aware that 'some' monies would go adrift, but you HAVE to get the funds out there ........
on a lighter note, I see they have approved the new city centre layout :p
Was going to start a thread on this but as it is already here I'll just post the BBC story here instead. To be totally honest how in hell can you A) Give out 1.4bn in bogus assistance and B) fail to prosecute those who committed the fraud. I especially love the part about rental assistance being payed to prisoners and giving out debit cards.
Quote:
'US storm fraudsters paid $1.4bn'
More than 80% of New Orleans was flooded when Katrina hit
The US government gave up to $1.4bn in bogus assistance to victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita last year, congressional inspectors have found.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency was tricked into funding hundreds of fraudulent schemes, the report said.
Money was spent on American football tickets, a holiday, a divorce lawyer and a sex change operation, it said.
The agency has acknowledged mistakes, but says it has only found evidence of fraud worth $16m.
More than 1,300 people died when Hurricane Katrina swept across five states last August and more than three-quarters of New Orleans was flooded.
Rita also wrought extensive damage after hitting Texas and Louisiana in late September.
'Cemetery' claimant
Debit cards handed out by Fema to people displaced by the storms bought diamond jewellery, champagne and erotic videos, the congressional audit discovered.
Investigators also found hundreds of claims from false addresses and rental assistance paid to prisoners.
A supposed victim who used a New Orleans cemetery for a home address and a person who spent 70 days at a Hawaiian hotel were among the claimants, the report said.
The chairman of the House of Representatives subcommittee overseeing the investigation called the bogus spending "an assault on the American taxpayer."
"Prosecutors from the federal level down should be looking at prosecuting these crimes and putting the criminals who committed them in jail for a long time," Michael McCaul said.
Fema officials said the agency was serious about ensuring that public money is spent wisely.
Spokesman Aaron Walker said Fema had "revamped the registration process" and had a contract with a company that would verify immediately the identity and address of anyone for assistance.
"We are confident in the system we have in place at this point," Mr Walker said. "We are prepared for the upcoming season."
Well, all I can say is that God better get off the sofa and start smiting on-the-double. Looks like he has another gay person to cast usunder with storms of fury.Quote:
Bogus claimants spent up to $1.4bn meant for hurricane victims on tropical holidays, champagne, a divorce lawyer and even a sex change, investigators in the United States have revealed.
can you imagine what the media would be saying if we took the time to put committees together and check everyone's ID.
it was most important that the needy eat and find shelter. track the slime down latter
Ted's right. I'm in no way comparing my situation to Katrina, but 2 summers ago, I spent 3 weeks with no electricity, no phone, no water, and a good bit of my roof gone. No way to get out of my road for almost a week because of trees down. In August in Florida. It was miserable. And I was very very very lucky compared to the Katrina victims.
Until you've done it, you'll never know how long a week can seem. When you're digging around trying to find a way to feed your child, a way to get clean, a way to keep the drinks you've got left cold when your ice all melted 4 days ago and you can't get out to get more, it's a fairly desperate feeling. We had all the supplies we were supposed to have. We had all the water it's suggested you have. We had a Coleman stove and canned food - but that only lasts so long. That is NOT the time to throw up a lot of red tape and make things slower for people. I can almost understand some of it - I can understand taking your family out for a fancy dinner. It's a symbol of normalcy. I can almost understand a vacation. The most overwhelming feeling I had for those 3 weeks was to just run away from it all. Not to deal with it anymore. I wouldn't have, but I can almost understand how you would.
However, the porn (what the hell were they watching it on, anyway? They didn't have power!), the sex change operation, the people in prison collecting money - I sincerely hope those people fry now. It's time to punish the people who deserve it and make examples of them, not put more restrictions up to make it harder to help the people who didn't abuse the help they got.
tedob1,
I agree with the fact that you need to get food and shelter to the people on the ground which is why normally you send food and shelter and not blank credit cards. There will always be some money mis-spent but 1.4 billion for me is no longer incompetant it is down right criminal. I would take a close look at the people in charge of the funds to see how much of it went to them. I wouldn't be surprised if a nice percentage of that money didnt even get past the people who were ment to be giving it out.