FEMA Pays For Porn, Sex Change, Divorce, Vacations, Season Tickets, Dom Perignon... - The Orange Mane

Bronco_Beerslug · 06-14-2006, 06:22 AM

Seen this coming.

--------------------------------------------------------
FEMA funds spent on divorce, sex change
By LARRY MARGASAK, Associated Press Writer Wed Jun 14,

WASHINGTON - Houston divorce lawyer Mark Lipkin says he can't recall anyone paying for his services with a FEMA debit card, but congressional investigators say one of his clients did just that.

The $1,000 payment was just one example cited in an audit that 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.

The
Federal Emergency Management Agency also was hoodwinked to pay for season football tickets, a tropical vacation and a sex change operation, the audit found. Prison inmates, a supposed victim who used a New Orleans cemetery for a home address and a person who spent 70 days at a Hawaiian hotel all were able to get taxpayer help, according to evidence that gives a new black eye to the nation's disaster relief agency.

"I do Katrina victims all the time," Lipkin, the divorce attorney, told The Associated Press. "I didn't know anybody did that with me. I don't think it's right, obviously."

Government Accountability Office officials were testifying before a House committee Wednesday on their findings.

Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, chairman of the subcommittee overseeing an investigation of post-hurricane aid, 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," he said.

To dramatize the problem, investigators provided lawmakers with a copy of a $2,358 U.S. Treasury check for rental assistance that an undercover agent received using a bogus address. The money was paid even after FEMA learned from its inspector that the undercover applicant did not live at the address.

FEMA spokesman Aaron Walker said Tuesday that the agency, already criticized for a poor response to Katrina, makes its highest priority during a disaster "to get help quickly to those in desperate need of our assistance."

"Even as we put victims first, we take very seriously our responsibility to be outstanding stewards of taxpayer dollars, and we are careful to make sure that funds are distributed appropriately," Walker said.

FEMA said it has identified more than 1,500 cases of potential fraud after Katrina and Rita and has referred those cases to the
Homeland Security Department's inspector general. The agency said it has identified $16.8 million in improperly awarded disaster relief money and has started efforts to collect the money.

The GAO said it was 95 percent confident that improper and potentially fraudulent payments were much higher — between $600 million and $1.4 billion.

The investigative agency said it found people lodged in hotels often were paid twice, since FEMA gave them individual rental assistance and paid hotels directly. FEMA paid California hotels $8,000 to house one individual — the same person who received three rental assistance payments for both disasters.

In another instance, FEMA paid an individual $2,358 in rental assistance, while at the same time paying about $8,000 for the same person to stay 70 nights at more than $100 per night in a Hawaii hotel.

CONT

Crushaholic · 06-14-2006, 11:35 AM

I'm curious. How could you have "seen it coming"? It's a pretty incredible story, if you ask me...

NOLA Bronco · 06-14-2006, 11:55 AM

Ugh....FEMA.

FEMA had good intentions in trying to get people money quickly. The problem is their system and their operators were ill-equiped to understand everything. Some people would wait in line or on the phone for 6 or more hours. I made my call at 4am. To much leeway was given to the operators, mainly because they were trying to make decisions quickly. If the operator wrote something down, it was written in stone. For instance, when I called, I was asked if I had damages, I said "I don't know, I won't know until I go back." The lady marked me down as a "Yes." Without that "Yes", you would receive no aid. If the lady marked "Unsure", we would have received bubkus. I know some people who said yes, as they saw their house collapse in front of their eyes, but the FEMA rep wrote it down wrong. Now, they can't get a dime. I don't get me started on the FEMA adjusters and trailors....

People took advantage of the system because they could. They always will. There should have been a better system in place to eliminate multiple claims and fake addresses. My guess is most of the people who got money under false pretense, made up a good amount of the people who used it incorrectly. People who lost everything were not getting lap dances. OK maybe a few, but not many. The rental assistance was something FEMA just gave out without telling people it was coming. I checked my bank account one day, and all of a sudden I had another $2,358. If you read the fine print, it says that if you didn't need it, you should return it. You could be audited, so you need receipts. We stayed with the in-laws for 6 weeks, so we didn't need it. But in all the info sent by FEMA, they don't tell you how to repay it, or when to send it back. I also received 15 copies of the initial information you receive when you first apply. And on every envelope, there was a nice US stamp, so it wasn't even sent for free!!!

In summary, these problems occurred because FEMA was not prepared. The honest people were honest, but there was little stopping the dishonest ones. My guess is FEMA said; what is more important, getting some people some money quickly so they can get on with their shattered lives, or to dot every "i" and cross every 't"? It was unfortunate that there were some fudge ups. I bet more people were screwed by FEMA than took advantage of FEMA.

defenseman · 06-14-2006, 12:09 PM

You have to admit there is two distinct takes on this. Neither of them looks good. And , we do need to "overhaul" the methods by which we "handout" aide to the unfortunate. The occassional "criminal" taking advantage? I really don't see totally getting rid of them, they will continue to reflect poorly on those who do really need help. Really sad if you ask me. Some of those folks could have really used the help from the monies spent by "fraudulent thieves"...pisses me off...dman

NOLA Bronco · 06-14-2006, 12:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by defenseman

Some of those folks could have really used the help from the monies spent by "fraudulent thieves"...pisses me off...dman

The thing is, money spent on the fraudulent claims did not prevent people from getting their money. FEMA's incompetance did.

One person I know who got screwed because FEMA wrote down the wrong thing applied in a timely fashion. She is now being told that they can't change her initial application. Not because of money, because of a time line.

defenseman · 06-14-2006, 12:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NOLA Bronco

The thing is, money spent on the fraudulent claims did not prevent people from getting their money. FEMA's incompetance did.

One person I know who got screwed because FEMA wrote down the wrong thing applied in a timely fashion. She is now being told that they can't change her initial application. Not because of money, because of a time line.

that makes no sense at all. Katrina will affect the region and country for quite a few years in the future....dman

Bronco_Beerslug · 06-14-2006, 01:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crushaholic

I'm curious. How could you have "seen it coming"? It's a pretty incredible story, if you ask me...

Soon as I heard FEMA credit cards were being issued last year I had no doubt we would be hearing these kind of stories.

bendog · 06-14-2006, 01:46 PM

What pisses me off is that I had a legit claim (in Fema's view, not mine) for a chain saw. I didn't buy one, but used a pole saw. Now the 40 foot ceder tree I trimmed is really dying, and I'll have to buy a chain saw. More likely, I'll hve to hire a tree service, since I have some wayyyyy tall oak trees that need pruning too.

Billy Clyde Puckett · 06-14-2006, 01:53 PM

Could have seen this coming because abuses have happened in virtually every government assistance program in the last 200 years

W*GS · 06-14-2006, 02:02 PM

The government starts throwing money at people (and of course, being the government, there's no real accountability from the bureaucracy) and people are surprised that it gets used for things other than which it was intended?

Amazing.

defenseman · 06-14-2006, 02:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by W*GS

The government starts throwing money at people (and of course, being the government, there's no real accountability from the bureaucracy) and people are surprised that it gets used for things other than which it was intended?

Amazing.

It sickens me....lots of dishonest people if the right kind of "bait" is dangled in front of them. I personally would have a very difficult time looking myself in the mirror if I had defrauded the monies some of these people have....really sad..dman

defenseman · 06-14-2006, 02:07 PM

By the way WAGS, whats with the Hilary Avatar? Looks like somebody slipped her a quick suppository unannounced..?/

...dman

bendog · 06-14-2006, 02:20 PM

Monica wearing a strap-on? I always thought Starr should have let it go. I think we had potential for a 3way, or at least a 3way homicide/suicide in the WH.

defenseman · 06-14-2006, 02:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bendog

Monica wearing a strap-on? I always thought Starr should have let it go. I think we had potential for a 3way, or at least a 3way homicide/suicide in the WH.

Agreed. Starr wasted money. Whitewater may have gone somewhere, until people started kicking the bucket. Once that occured , game over...dman

Garcia Bronco · 06-14-2006, 02:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by W*GS

The government starts throwing money at people (and of course, being the government, there's no real accountability from the bureaucracy) and people are surprised that it gets used for things other than which it was intended?

Amazing.

Agreed. I don't know which is worse though...the lack of accountability or the people that take advantage of it.

W*GS · 06-14-2006, 03:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Garcia Bronco

Agreed. I don't know which is worse though...the lack of accountability or the people that take advantage of it.

Both.

W*GS · 06-14-2006, 03:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by defenseman

By the way WAGS, whats with the Hilary Avatar? Looks like somebody slipped her a quick suppository unannounced..?/

...dman

It's what you can find if you Google image search on 'hillary funny', IIRC.

NOLA Bronco · 06-14-2006, 03:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by W*GS

The government starts throwing money at people (and of course, being the government, there's no real accountability from the bureaucracy) and people are surprised that it gets used for things other than which it was intended?

Amazing.

Like I said before, please don't lose sight at how many people the assisstance actually helped. What would have happened if those people had to wait another month to get on with their lives

Plus, more people got screwed by FEMA than ripped FEMA off.

06-14-2006, 06:22 AM	#1
Bronco_Beerslug Angling in the Deep Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Texas Riviera, Southern Mountains Posts: 24,281	FEMA Pays For Porn, Sex Change, Divorce, Vacations, Season Tickets, Dom Perignon... Seen this coming. -------------------------------------------------------- FEMA funds spent on divorce, sex change By LARRY MARGASAK, Associated Press Writer Wed Jun 14, WASHINGTON - Houston divorce lawyer Mark Lipkin says he can't recall anyone paying for his services with a FEMA debit card, but congressional investigators say one of his clients did just that. The $1,000 payment was just one example cited in an audit that 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. The Federal Emergency Management Agency also was hoodwinked to pay for season football tickets, a tropical vacation and a sex change operation, the audit found. Prison inmates, a supposed victim who used a New Orleans cemetery for a home address and a person who spent 70 days at a Hawaiian hotel all were able to get taxpayer help, according to evidence that gives a new black eye to the nation's disaster relief agency. "I do Katrina victims all the time," Lipkin, the divorce attorney, told The Associated Press. "I didn't know anybody did that with me. I don't think it's right, obviously." Government Accountability Office officials were testifying before a House committee Wednesday on their findings. Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, chairman of the subcommittee overseeing an investigation of post-hurricane aid, 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," he said. To dramatize the problem, investigators provided lawmakers with a copy of a $2,358 U.S. Treasury check for rental assistance that an undercover agent received using a bogus address. The money was paid even after FEMA learned from its inspector that the undercover applicant did not live at the address. FEMA spokesman Aaron Walker said Tuesday that the agency, already criticized for a poor response to Katrina, makes its highest priority during a disaster "to get help quickly to those in desperate need of our assistance." "Even as we put victims first, we take very seriously our responsibility to be outstanding stewards of taxpayer dollars, and we are careful to make sure that funds are distributed appropriately," Walker said. FEMA said it has identified more than 1,500 cases of potential fraud after Katrina and Rita and has referred those cases to the Homeland Security Department's inspector general. The agency said it has identified $16.8 million in improperly awarded disaster relief money and has started efforts to collect the money. The GAO said it was 95 percent confident that improper and potentially fraudulent payments were much higher — between $600 million and $1.4 billion. The investigative agency said it found people lodged in hotels often were paid twice, since FEMA gave them individual rental assistance and paid hotels directly. FEMA paid California hotels $8,000 to house one individual — the same person who received three rental assistance payments for both disasters. In another instance, FEMA paid an individual $2,358 in rental assistance, while at the same time paying about $8,000 for the same person to stay 70 nights at more than $100 per night in a Hawaii hotel. CONT

06-14-2006, 02:07 PM	#12
defenseman Ring of Famer 2007 record pred. (7-9) Join Date: Apr 2001 Posts: 9,232	By the way WAGS, whats with the Hilary Avatar? Looks like somebody slipped her a quick suppository unannounced..?/...dman

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06-14-2006, 11:35 AM	#2
Crushaholic Armchair Poster Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Topeka, KS Posts: 22,039	I'm curious. How could you have "seen it coming"? It's a pretty incredible story, if you ask me...

06-14-2006, 11:55 AM	#3
NOLA Bronco Perennial Pro-bowler Join Date: May 2006 Location: New Orleans Posts: 798 Adopt-a-Bronco: Shane Swanson	Ugh....FEMA. FEMA had good intentions in trying to get people money quickly. The problem is their system and their operators were ill-equiped to understand everything. Some people would wait in line or on the phone for 6 or more hours. I made my call at 4am. To much leeway was given to the operators, mainly because they were trying to make decisions quickly. If the operator wrote something down, it was written in stone. For instance, when I called, I was asked if I had damages, I said "I don't know, I won't know until I go back." The lady marked me down as a "Yes." Without that "Yes", you would receive no aid. If the lady marked "Unsure", we would have received bubkus. I know some people who said yes, as they saw their house collapse in front of their eyes, but the FEMA rep wrote it down wrong. Now, they can't get a dime. I don't get me started on the FEMA adjusters and trailors.... People took advantage of the system because they could. They always will. There should have been a better system in place to eliminate multiple claims and fake addresses. My guess is most of the people who got money under false pretense, made up a good amount of the people who used it incorrectly. People who lost everything were not getting lap dances. OK maybe a few, but not many. The rental assistance was something FEMA just gave out without telling people it was coming. I checked my bank account one day, and all of a sudden I had another $2,358. If you read the fine print, it says that if you didn't need it, you should return it. You could be audited, so you need receipts. We stayed with the in-laws for 6 weeks, so we didn't need it. But in all the info sent by FEMA, they don't tell you how to repay it, or when to send it back. I also received 15 copies of the initial information you receive when you first apply. And on every envelope, there was a nice US stamp, so it wasn't even sent for free!!! In summary, these problems occurred because FEMA was not prepared. The honest people were honest, but there was little stopping the dishonest ones. My guess is FEMA said; what is more important, getting some people some money quickly so they can get on with their shattered lives, or to dot every "i" and cross every 't"? It was unfortunate that there were some fudge ups. I bet more people were screwed by FEMA than took advantage of FEMA.

06-14-2006, 12:09 PM	#4
defenseman Ring of Famer 2007 record pred. (7-9) Join Date: Apr 2001 Posts: 9,232	You have to admit there is two distinct takes on this. Neither of them looks good. And , we do need to "overhaul" the methods by which we "handout" aide to the unfortunate. The occassional "criminal" taking advantage? I really don't see totally getting rid of them, they will continue to reflect poorly on those who do really need help. Really sad if you ask me. Some of those folks could have really used the help from the monies spent by "fraudulent thieves"...pisses me off...dman

06-14-2006, 01:46 PM	#8
bendog Marginally Continent David Bowens, he'd be an upgrade Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Folsom Prison Posts: 19,935 Adopt-a-Bronco: David Bowens	What pisses me off is that I had a legit claim (in Fema's view, not mine) for a chain saw. I didn't buy one, but used a pole saw. Now the 40 foot ceder tree I trimmed is really dying, and I'll have to buy a chain saw. More likely, I'll hve to hire a tree service, since I have some wayyyyy tall oak trees that need pruning too.

06-14-2006, 01:53 PM	#9
Billy Clyde Puckett Billy=Semi Tough Big Guy Looking down on KC, SD and Oakland Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: between 5,000 and 10,000 feet elevation Posts: 12,665 Adopt-a-Bronco: John Elway	Could have seen this coming because abuses have happened in virtually every government assistance program in the last 200 years

06-14-2006, 02:02 PM	#10
W*GS Ring of Famer Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Earth Posts: 19,490	The government starts throwing money at people (and of course, being the government, there's no real accountability from the bureaucracy) and people are surprised that it gets used for things other than which it was intended? Amazing.

06-14-2006, 02:20 PM	#13
bendog Marginally Continent David Bowens, he'd be an upgrade Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Folsom Prison Posts: 19,935 Adopt-a-Bronco: David Bowens	Monica wearing a strap-on? I always thought Starr should have let it go. I think we had potential for a 3way, or at least a 3way homicide/suicide in the WH.