Arrests Made in FEMA Miami-Dade Scam Case

[MWatkins]

The good news is that 14 have been charged in the scam.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/ ... -news-sfla

The bad news is that this should have been caught up front...I mean...come on...Homestead?

Instead of giving our tax money away...then arresting these folks after the money has been spent...why not use common sense and SAVE THE MONEY.

Now...our tax dollars will be hard at work keeping these folks in jail. The real investigation needs to go into FEMA.

MW

[Lindaloo]

I am so glad to hear they are at least doing something. IMO, FEMA is just as much responsible and should be investigated. There are alot of people out there who really need FEMA assistance, but are denied. But yet, these people that committ fraud to have a better life before the storm are approved and some of them are never caught. This is also an insurance industry problem.

After Georges, the Red Cross caught people filing false claims. All of them lived in apartment complexes. Alot of people were arrested but only because the Red Cross caught them, not FEMA.

[depotoo]

am really disappointed they haven't found who assisted from fema because they had to know there wasn't much damage there.
am glad at least something has been done but am not at all satisfied at this point.

[depotoo]

One defendant collected $2,562 after appealing FEMA's decision to turn down her application, Mulvihill said.

now - how in the world did they come back and approve it later?seems to me who ever apporved needs to go!

[MGC]

I would not be surprised if someone in FEMA was takeing care of their friends and hooking them up with some FEMA money. I guess I should run down and get me some cash from FEMA, Ivan blew down to tree branchs in my yard, does that qualify?.....MGC

[depotoo]

i know several of my neighbors got reimbursed for their generators and i just couldn't even though it's legal - i figure it;s their for those that need it - ya know?

[jabber]

These people are scumbags. I am still amazed by all this. I suffered very little damage from the storms besides trees, etc. I bought a chain saw and everyone said 'you can get fema to pay for that'. I thought why would I do that. I would only use that service if I really had to. People continue to amaze me... sadly.

[Matt-hurricanewatcher]

I always knew something stink about the nws/noaa/nhc in Fema working together. Remeber the Andrew stories coming out of southern Florida. Heck I would not be surprized if that really did happen. Some countries that really doe's happen. So the tail of this story is don't trust your butt with the nhc/noaa/Fema/Red cross/Nws/State Goverment. They are out ot kill you!

[MWatkins]

I always knew something stink about the nws/noaa/nhc in Fema working together. Remeber the Andrew stories coming out of southern Florida. Heck I would not be surprized if that really did happen. Some countries that really doe's happen. So the tail of this story is don't trust your butt with the nhc/noaa/Fema/Red cross/Nws/State Goverment. They are out ot kill you!

Matt...

That makes exactly zero sense. Fema is out to kill people by giving them money they don't deserve?

And this has nothing to do with NOAA. Nothing in any of these stories mentions working with NOAA...in fact the weather community including NWS and NOAA have routinely disputed FEMA's claim that hurricane force winds occured in Miami-Dade.

The problem here is FEMA...and they are not killing people by handing out money.

Come on man...you're kidding...right?

MW

[Matt-hurricanewatcher]

Yes I was joking but you have to wonder about some of those stories that came out of Florida after Andrew. No hard feelings?

[MWatkins]

Yes I was joking but you have to wonder about some of those stories that came out of Florida after Andrew. No hard feelings?

No hard feelings Matt...I figured you were exaggerating...but you never know...just want to be sure that no one gets the wrong idea about this stuff...

MW

[stormcrow]

Put the crooks in jail I have no problem! But this theme that no one in Dade suffered damage is crap. Politicians are playing McCarthy with this.
The insurance industry puts all policies in Florida on Hurricane deductibles when there is a named storm in the area. They also cover roof damage and wind driven rain damaging the interior (except commercial policies). People have replacement cost insurance and pay extra premium for it. Old roofs were damaged (15 year old shingles and 40 to 50 mph winds for several hours spell trouble) by the winds in Broward and the north half of Dade. People who had water blow in (with no opening created by the storm) could get there building damage paid but not their contents. Also most policies did not cover power surge, and yes there were power blackouts in Dade. These people were eligible for Fema help. Whether they should be eligible is another issue. Not everyone who received money was a crook. Fema has real problems (as does NFIP) and especially NFIP should be throughly investigated.

Instead of screaming how a few ripped the system questions about how Fema and NFIP treated people in NC after Isabel where 180 families are still in temporary trailers for the 2nd winter would be more in order.

[jujubean]

just curious but ....what stories after andrew are you talking about??.. I must of missed something.

[gtalum]

This is the craziest one I ever heard:

From Where Heavens Meet by kt Frankovich

[The Big Dog]

This is the craziest one I ever heard:

From Where Heavens Meet by kt Frankovich

I feel stupider just for having read that.

[The Big Dog]

Yes I was joking but you have to wonder about some of those stories that came out of Florida after Andrew. No hard feelings?

I don't have any sources, although I'm sure I could find some, but the FEMA of 1992 was quite different than the FEMA of today. Back then, I remember hearing about how it was a dumping ground for political cronies, paybacks for favors, jobs for senators' nephews and stuff like that, and Andrew exposed a lot of it. After that, the government made FEMA a priority, and they were doing much better, although the latest round of stories makes you wonder again.

As for what FEMA covers, I was appalled. A co-worker of mine got her chain saw paid for. I just found out that I could have had my spoiled food covered, although I don't think I could have brought myself to fill out the claim form for that, not with people's lives turned upside-down.

[gtalum]

This is the craziest one I ever heard:

From Where Heavens Meet by kt Frankovich

I feel stupider just for having read that.

It's really quite an engaging story. It would make a good movie. But I doubt it's 10% true.

[Aquawind]

Heads will roll..maybe..


http://www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll ... /WEATHER01


Fla. lawmakers seek hearings on FEMA

By LARRY WHEELER
THE NEWS-PRESS WASHINGTON BUREAU
Published by news-press.com on March 4, 2005

WASHINGTON — Several Florida lawmakers want Congress to hold formal hearings to investigate complaints that FEMA mishandled emergency relief funds.

The congressman on Thursday asked GOP Rep. Bill Shuster of Pennsylvania, chairman of the House panel with Federal Emergency Management Agency oversight, to hold hearings in Washington, D.C., to investigate the complaints.

On Friday, Shuster will take a helicopter tour of hurricane-damaged Escambia and Santa Rosa counties in the Panhandle and listen to local officials' concerns about FEMA.

"It's been several months since four hurricanes slammed into my state and we are still waiting for answers from FEMA on a host of issues," said Rep. Mark Foley, a Republican whose congressional district stretches from St. Lucie County on the Atlantic Coast to Charlotte County on the Gulf Coast. "The time has come to find out what the problem is. Taxpayers deserve answers."

On Wednesday, 14 Miami-Dade County residents were indicted on charges of filing false claims with FEMA, heightening concern in Congress that the agency needs closer scrutiny.

Two weeks ago, Foley and other members of the Florida House delegation vented their frustration at FEMA's debris-removal policies during an informal delegation meeting with a top agency official.

Lawmakers left the meeting with no clearer understanding why their communities were stuck with millions of dollars in debris removal and other bills when they had been promised reimbursement by FEMA.

"Some of our communities have been forced to take out loans to cover rebuilding efforts — and now are having to repay those loans without having yet received one penny of their allowed reimbursements from FEMA," Foley wrote in the letter requesting that Shuster schedule a hearing. "This has created enormous hardships on local governments throughout Florida."

Several Florida lawmakers signed the letter, including GOP Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite, Democratic Rep. Robert Wexler, GOP Rep. John Mica and GOP Rep. Katherine Harris.


We need the truth and change! People have got to be held responsible at all levels..

Paul

[jujubean]

thanks for answering my question .... that story is false and what isn't false has been seriously exagerated don't get me wrong andrew was terrible and there were a lot of mistakes made as far as the relief effort went.... but I thought all and all I think they did ok....this lady is making it seem like she was caught unaware or something ....gimme a break ..... there is no way she couldn't have known how serious this storm was going to be it was all over the news ...mandatory evacuations..and so on, as for the roped off areas and the big cover ups ,we went all over the area without a problem I don't remember not being able to travel in that area.more likely than not this lady probably didn't even go through the storm.... probably lived in seattle or something when it hit gotta admit though.... was definitly entertaining to read especially the part about fighting the baboon for food

[The Big Dog]

This is the craziest one I ever heard:

From Where Heavens Meet by kt Frankovich

I feel stupider just for having read that.

It's really quite an engaging story. It would make a good movie. But I doubt it's 10% true.

I'll read it all when I get a chance. Just scanned it for now. But I can't away from the first two paragraphs. 214 mph sustained -- what is that? Cat 7? And the sudden 5-degree shift to the south -- did the weather gods press the hyperspace button or something?

This is the stuff MST3K's are made of.