Katrina fraud swamps authorities

USA Today:

Federal agents investigating widespread fraud after the Gulf Coast hurricanes in 2005 are sifting through more than 11,000 potential cases, a backlog that could take years to resolve.

Authorities have fielded so many reports of people cheating aid programs, swindling contracts and scamming charities after the hurricanes that Homeland Security inspectors, who typically police disaster aid scams, have been "swamped," says David Dugas, the U.S. attorney in Baton Rouge.

"There's definitely a backlog," says Dugas, whose office helps coordinate an anti-fraud task force formed after the hurricanes. "Right now, that means we might not get to some cases as quickly as some people might like. If there's still a backlog in two years when we start running up against the statute of limitations, that's different."

Hurricanes Katrina and Rita triggered more than $7 billion in disaster aid to Gulf Coast households, plus billions more in government contracts and rebuilding projects. Allegations of fraud have accompanied that assistance, and prosecutors have vowed zero tolerance for people who tried to cheat the government.

About 700 people have been charged.

Most of the cases involve alleged lies to the Federal Emergency Management Agency to cash in on $2,000 payments it sent out shortly after the storms struck. In one, prosecutors charged that two roommates in Houston sent FEMA 39 claims for assistance for the two storms and lied about living in places hit by the hurricanes.

The Hurricane Katrina Fraud Task Force has referred 11,000 potential fraud cases to Homeland Security and a handful of other law enforcement agencies. Each of those was screened first to make sure there was some possibility of fraud.

...

The caterwauling of Democrats forced an already pressed government agency to rush assistance to victims and wound up victimizing the government with one of the biggest mass frauds in history. Don't worry they will avoid accountability and blame the victim for being "incompetent."

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