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[Davesax36]

Got this from the R1 board.

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Nice to see they were put to good use. A billion in fraud, and you and I all paid for it....


    quote:WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A $200 bottle of champagne from Hooters and $300 worth of "Girls Gone Wild" videos were among items bought with debit cards handed out by FEMA to help hurricane victims, auditors probing $1 billion in potential waste and fraud have found.

    The cards -- given to people displaced by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita -- also bought diamond jewelry and a vacation in the Dominican Republic, according to the Government Accountability Office audit.

    The GAO uncovered records showing that $1,000 from a FEMA debit card went to a Houston divorce lawyer; $600 was spent in a strip club and $400 was spent on "adult erotica products," all of which auditors concluded were "not necessary to satisfy legitimate disaster needs."

    The GAO found that at least $1 billion in disaster relief payments by the Federal Emergency Management Agency were improper and potentially fraudulent because the recipients provided incomplete or incorrect information when they registered for assistance. (GAO report)

    The GAO said the scope of the problem may be even larger, because it only looked at the validity of registration information and not at other forms of potential fraud.

    FEMA acknowledged its shortcomings late Tuesday.

    Spokesman Aaron Walker said FEMA has "revamped the registration process" and has a contract with a company that will verify immediately the identity and address of anyone for assistance.

    "We are confident in the system we have in place at this point," Walker said. "We are prepared for the upcoming season."

    The GAO also found that FEMA provided housing assistance to people who were not displaced, including at least 1,000 prison inmates, and also provided rental assistance to people who were simultaneously living in free hotel rooms.

    Results of the GAO's audit will be presented Wednesday to an investigative panel of the House Homeland Security Committee. FEMA is part of the Department of Homeland Security.

    The GAO also found that FEMA lost track of 750 debit cards, worth a total of $1.5 million.

    After inquiries from the GAO, FEMA recovered about half of that money, which had not been distributed by JPMorgan Chase, the bank hired to run the program. But the agency still cannot account for 381 cards, worth about $760,000 total, which JPMorgan Chase says it distributed, according to the GAO.

    GAO investigators estimated that 16 percent of FEMA's disaster relief payments were made to people who submitted invalid registrations, to the tune of about $1 billion. Because the figures were calculated using a statistical sample, however, the agency said the amount could range from $600 million to as much as $1.4 billion.

[pepsX]

all they did was break the law trying to better themselfs and buy the things Americans wont buy. so whats the big deal?
it would be too hard to make them pay it back, so lets just forgive them of all wrong doing, and welcome them to the state. in fact, lets give them free medical, waive the out of state tuition and go ahead and put them on medicaid
wait! do i have the wrong thead here?
my bad, sorry

[VT-XS]

I got this joke from a fellow motorcycle rider last week.....


After Katrina hit New Orleans, one thousand of those that perished showed up at the pearly gates to be processed by Saint Peter at the same time.

Saint Peter was somewhat overwhelmed at the moment looking at the large crowd of departed souls. He excused himself and went to God's office and said "There's a thousand out there from New Orleans. It just seems like too much all at once"

God Responded, "I don't get this. You've seen a lot more and a lot worse. What makes this so big and different"

Saint Peter responded "I dunno. I guess I'm just in a mood or something."

God repled, "No problem. Get out there and do what you do. You'll be fine."

Fifteen minutes went by and Saint Peter came running back into God's office frantic, yelling "They're gone! They're gone!"

God said "They can't be gone! They're dead! They got no place else they can go!  They have to be there!

Saint Peter replied frantically;  "No!  Not the people!  They're there!  It's the Pearly Gates!  They're gone!!!!

[Blueflameguy2]

lol

my best friend got married last december, so for his bachelor party we just went to La. to gamble for the night.  one of our friends was escorted out of the casino for following a guy around that we had overheard talking about how much money he got from fema.  so everytime that guy would place a bet Wes, the friend, would scream out "THATS IT, PUT SOME MORE OF THAT FEMA MONEY DOWN!!!!"

needless to say, they were none too happy

[HeadGuess]

lest not forget the money did not get there fast enough though. Or that is what the press wanted us to believe. I guess they just could'nt wait to get the sex changes and the breast augmentation done at the expense of the working taxpayer!

[bIgPrO]

i remember trying to put some evacuues to work and they said no thank 

guess they were at the nudie bars 

[HeadGuess]

Go by the unemployment office and try and get someone in line to work. I have tried on more than one occasion and guess what... NO TAKERS!

They want to draw unemployment and live on food stamps!

[snake]

Yeah, while home on leave from the army, I used to go to the employment office and wait for contraactors to come by to pick up day laborers so I could supplement the army pay. It always amazed me at the number of  people standing outside that wouldn't hop in the truck with the rest of us and go to work. Amazing, but it's way worse now!!!