Katrina and Rita - Hurricane assistance fraud
Posted: 6/14/2006, 11:26 am
FEMA funds spent on divorce, sex change
...concluded that up to $1.4 billion — perhaps as much as 16 percent of the billions of dollars in assistance expended after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita — was spent for bogus reasons.
...
Among the items purchased with the cards:
_An all-inclusive, one-week Caribbean vacation in the Punta Cana resort in the Dominican Republic.
_Five season tickets to New Orleans Saints professional football games.
_Adult erotica products in Houston and "Girls Gone Wild" videos in Santa Monica, Calif.
_Dom Perignon champagne and other alcoholic beverages in San Antonio.
"Our forensic audit and investigative work showed that improper and potentially fraudulent payments occurred mainly because FEMA did not validate the identity of the registrant, the physical location of the damaged address, and ownership and occupancy of all registrants at the time of registration," GAO officials said.
...concluded that up to $1.4 billion — perhaps as much as 16 percent of the billions of dollars in assistance expended after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita — was spent for bogus reasons.
...
Among the items purchased with the cards:
_An all-inclusive, one-week Caribbean vacation in the Punta Cana resort in the Dominican Republic.
_Five season tickets to New Orleans Saints professional football games.
_Adult erotica products in Houston and "Girls Gone Wild" videos in Santa Monica, Calif.
_Dom Perignon champagne and other alcoholic beverages in San Antonio.
"Our forensic audit and investigative work showed that improper and potentially fraudulent payments occurred mainly because FEMA did not validate the identity of the registrant, the physical location of the damaged address, and ownership and occupancy of all registrants at the time of registration," GAO officials said.