Florida FEMA Hurricane relief fraud???

[jamboi]

I'm posting this for another DUer who was listening to Ed Schultz who can't post yet:

"A Florida listner called in just now and spoke with Ed. He was telling Ed about FEMA giving out $29M to 12,000 people in Dade county for Hurricane relief. He was saying that he lives in Broward and that Broward, Miami and Dade county got winds no higher than 40 mph in either of the 4 hurricanes that hit Florida this year. Ed was very interested in this story and asked the caller to do further research He asked if he could find someone to come forward and admit taking the money without sustaining actual hurricane damages.

"The first thing that came to my mind was -- what is this $29M figure that keeps popping up? Maybe a coincedence. The math tells you that $29M split between 12K people is $2400/person. I was thinking things like hurricane relief funds in Florida would be a good way for the feds to pay election riggers (poll workers? -- who are Florida residents who may also be hurricane victims).

"I don't know -- just some thoughts.

Not_Without_A_Fight"

[The Backlash Cometh]

1. Needless to say, they should investigate this.

Sounds like a lot of insurance fraud to me. Miami wasn't hit. You'd have to live in a shack in order to sustain damage. The only place where that money could have potentially be spent is on coastal damage, and I'm leaving that open only because I don't know the nature of the currents when a hurricane blows in.

[pilgrimsoul]

2. Holy malfeasance, Batman!!!

I wonder if the list of people who received relief funds in Dade County is public information? A cross correlation of this list and a list of Dade County poll workers on 11/2 would be interesting to see. The thing that really has me scratching my head, though, is...would anyone really be so stupid as to risk going to prison for a measly two grand? It sounds like a stretch, but hell - why not look into it and see what turns up?

[seafan]

3. Some current info:

The Florida Legislature has asked for an investigation on $28 million in illicit insurance claims paid for damage done by Hurricane Frances in Miami and Dade County, an area barely touched by the hurricane.

U.S. Rep. Clay Shaw, R-Fort Lauderdale, wrote a letter to the House Select Committee on Homeland Security, which oversees the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) saying that the organization "made a lot of mistakes and wasted a lot of taxpayer money." Shaw asked the committee to call a hearing.

------

Meanwhile, U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Boca Raton, said he will ask the Government Accountability Office, the watchdog arm of Congress, to investigate, and state Sen. Walter "Skip" Campbell, D-Fort Lauderdale, called for a criminal investigation.

The actions follow a Sunday report in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel that hurricane relief in Miami-Dade bought thousands of new televisions, microwaves, refrigerators and other appliances. FEMA paid for new cars, dental bills and a funeral, even though the medical examiner recorded no deaths from Frances.

FEMA inspectors attributed damage to tornadoes -- there were none recorded in the county -- and in six instances listed "ice/snow" as the cause, the newspaper reported.

<snip>

http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/southeast/2004/11/24/48005.htm

[Not_Without_A_Fight]

6. Thanks for the details

I'm probably trying to connect too many dots. But, FEMA money would be a great fund to draw from to at minimum make Floridians grateful to an incumbent administration ( a fact that, I am sure, was not lost on the First Brother ) and at most highly-manic conspiracy theory would also be a way tp pass out money to people for helping you win a state that you desperately need to win an election.

The mind wanders....

Not_Without_A_Fight

[Lisabtrucking]

4. That's funny, know wonder why my eclectic bill is going up.

People in Florida are getting hit with an electric hike because of the hurricanes. Some of that fema money would of helped the electric company's out. and maybe shared the fema with all of us in Florida.

[Razorback_Democrat]

5. hey, I thought the same thing when I read 29 million n/t

[floridadem30]

7. I live in charlotte cnty where Charlie hit and still waiting on money from

Fema and insurance company. I also have a few friends trying to locate housing through fema and have not been responded to.