GAO finds mismanagement of hurricane aid [View All]

http://news.yahoo.com/fc/us/hurricane_katrina
GAO finds mismanagement of hurricane aid
AP - 25 minutes ago
WASHINGTON - The government doled out as much as $1.4 billion in bogus assistance to victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, getting hoodwinked to pay for season football tickets, a tropical vacation and even a divorce lawyer, congressional investigators have found.

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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060607/ap_on_re_us/katrina_fema_audit_2

An audit by the federal inspector general's office found TCB Construction billed the county for extracting stumps that homeowners had removed themselves and left at the curb for disposal. The audit concluded the company should have been paid $33.60 per stump instead of the $150 to $325 it received.

The county board of supervisors decided to hire TCB again after Katrina because it submitted the lowest bid and board members were satisfied with TCB's work after Georges, said county Supervisor Larry Benefield.

Since Katrina, Harrison County has not been reimbursed for about half of its $18 million worth of tree removal work, Benefield said.

FEMA concluded that contractors billed the county for hundreds of trees that were not eligible for federal reimbursement. Many were too small, FEMA said. Also, inspectors could not find stumps to match hundreds of trees workers said they cut.


It does make you sick doesn't it...