FEMA hurricane cards bought jewelry, erotica

[Buxom Wench]

Now, I have nothing against jewelry or erotica BUT, this just takes the cake!
I know that alot of us here from the boards contributed to the Hurricane Relief Funds set up after all the disasters last year. I did NOT expect my money to go to this!

http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/06/14/fema.audit/index.html?section=cnn_latest

FEMA hurricane cards bought jewelry, erotica
Federal audit finds $1 billion in potential fraud

Wednesday, June 14, 2006; Posted: 11:30 a.m. EDT (15:30 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A $200 bottle of champagne from Hooters and $300 worth of "Girls Gone Wild" videos were among items bought with debit cards handed out by FEMA to help hurricane victims, auditors probing $1 billion in potential waste and fraud have found.

[LadyAtlas]

I don't get it?
Did FEMA just give out these credit cards to the victims and they used it for what ever they wanted??!! WTF??
Who's brilliant idea was that?

[Emyrldlady]

Are they sure they weren't just replenishing stock?

[Athalia Jewel]

And let's not forget about the guy in Texas who used the money for a sex change.

[Pathos]

This story has been around since about a month after Katrina. I'm not sure why it's suddenly on the cover of the newspapers like it's some new revelation.

Merchants were saying at the time that people were coming in and buying porn and booze with their 1000 dollar debit cards they were given by the Red Cross.

Problem is...they really had no jurisdiction to refuse the sale. I guess if porn and booze is what they need to get their lives back in order...so be it.

:roll:

[Lilaney]

It sounds like they have info on how the cards were spent.
Is there any way to get the money back from these characters?

And BTW..
Can you get a 200$ bottle of champange from Hooters?

There were talking about this on the radio as well. Saying that some people listed a cemetary address as their place of residence.

I surely hope they go after these people.

But, like you said.. how can you tell a person how to spend their money?

I wonder how they will figure this one out..

[Buxom Wench]

It sounds like they have info on how the cards were spent.
Is there any way to get the money back from these characters?

And BTW..
Can you get a 200$ bottle of champange from Hooters?

Sure can...... Dom Perignon..around here $149 a bottle at the local Hooters.

There were talking about this on the radio as well. Saying that some people listed a cemetary address as their place of residence.

I surely hope they go after these people.

But, like you said.. how can you tell a person how to spend their money?

I wonder how they will figure this one out..

I just hope this isn't going to be repeated anytime soon.
They need to make these more like foodstamp cards or WIC cards, that way they can't be spent on this type of stuff again.

[willow of the wooded fortress]

I think this is sad and outrages, but I am not surprised in a way.A lot of these hurricane victims were extremely poor to begin with and mixed in with emotions of being abandoned by the government when it happened I would think make for a really bad mix of emotions. It probably felt like they hit the lottery for some and maybe there was a bit of FU to the government going on even though they are really insulting those of us who donated the millions of dollars.

I gotta be honest though, if I lost everything I think I would need a giant bottle of scotch! But $200 on one bottle of champagne is just rediculous.

[Leyla]

From the article: The GAO also found that FEMA lost track of 750 debit cards, worth a total of $1.5 million.

"lost track of"? How do you lose track of 750 debit cards? FEMA just seems to have blown it with this one. Hope all the bad press brings some major reform.

[Cyranno DeBoberac]

"lost track of"? How do you lose track of 750 debit cards? I'd imagine 750 cards could be held in a fairly portably-sized box.

Said box would simply just have to "fall off a truck" :wink:

[willow of the wooded fortress]

I'd imagine 750 cards could be held in a fairly portably-sized box.

Said box would simply just have to "fall off a truck" :wink:

Don't get me wrong but someone had to be involved, someone is benifitting in some way. I mean if we get angry with FEMA and angry at the "victims" who misused the credit cards we get distracted from others that maybe could have made better choices when this happened and before it happened. It just seems a little too....

[Lady Laurel]

After reading the article this morning I think some of what happened was people did not have identification so they took peoples word for it and gave the cards to people with faulty ID and addresses. Also FEMA was paying for people to stay in hotels that gave faulty info because they had warrants and such. We had a huge bust her in Shreveport a few months ago where the cops finally got info from FEMA that people they were paying to stay in a hotel here were sexual predetors and had attacked a girl here in town.

This was a total breakdown in communition all the way around and from what I am hearing if it happens again its going to be just as bad because they cannot get it together governmental wise in Louisiana.

[Pathos]

I also think part of the reason was the fact the media was already crucifying them for their slow response. They may've just panicked and started throwing out cards to anybody just to make it seem like their doing something.

[Bean]

Yep, FEMA was one big mess on this one. There are still several thousand trailers sitting in Kansas (or somewhere) slowly sinking into the ground and rotting out. Our tax dollars at work..............

[Isabelle Warwicke]

There are thousands of stories about people taking advantage of the charity.

It honestly does not suprise me that people took the charity cards and used them for purposes other that what they were intended for. It's the selfish sense of entitlement that runs rampant through people.

Here's a fun story. A Local Couple had a second home, a vacation home. So they set it up and took in a family from New Orleans. They paid for the gas, electric, basic cable and other simple amenities. They even re-furnished it with nice simple new furniture. The second week that the Charity Family was there, they called and asked their Host Family if they could install "better cable" because there was "nothing to watch" on the basic channels. The Charity Family ran up HUGE phone bills, not just calling around the country trying to contact people but to 900 numbers. They also ran up all kinds of other recockulous charges on some credit accounts at the local shops that had been set up for the Charity Family. So the Host Couple got tired of it and when the time had expired that they had agreed to take the Charity Family in, they asked that they please leave. The Charity Family rented a moving van and took everything in the house. EVERYTHING! All the furniture, the dishes, the towels. None of it was theirs and they weren't entitled to HAVE it, just to use it while these Kind People gave them a place to live.

So, simply said, I'm not suprised that the FEMA cards were used for things that they should not have been used for. Hurricane Katrina has had enough relief given and they SQUANDERED it. They are getting no more from me.

[MaidenFaeSnow]

If you are going to give out...basically cash, (debit cards)....you cannot expect to control what the recipient does with it...period. You are leaving it up to them, therefore you have no right to get upset with the end result.

If someone spends it on booze, etc., it is they who then suffer from not having the things they truly need. When they come asking for more, deny them. They screwed up what they got, they get no more. It seems to me that the people who made those poor choices, in many cases (not in all) are the same people who mose likely would have been making the same type of choices prior to the disaster so to them, they WERE returning to life-as-usual.

When I donate to ANY charity, I do so understanding that only a small portion of my donation might actually end up helping the actual victims in the right way (tho I hope most of it will.) To think that ALL of it will be used correctly is would be naieve of me.

[NYKitten]

it just sucks that my in-laws(FL) needed a new roof and some repairs done to their house, FEMA denied them a card-their daughter & granddaughter live there too-but it was 3 months before they could sleep in their own rooms.

We were denied any assistance too-because FEMA can only dish out to casualty zones-and we were not considered one(LI, NY) I have pictures of our truck literally half under water. We were evacuated by boat-and allowed to come back the next day to the damage.

i hope those #^%$%&$@&s get what they deserve...karma can be a cruel thing.

[Eric McTavish]

~snip~I'm not suprised that the FEMA cards were used for things that they should not have been used for. Hurricane Katrina has had enough relief given and they SQUANDERED it. They are getting no more from me.

WOW that really SUCKS for your friends!!!
But lets keep in mind not everyone who received the debit cards squandered the help... those stories just dont make for "hot headlines"

Another note on FEMA...
They did an AMAZING job in the devastation following 9-11... they were right on top of everything. The FEMA was rolled into the Dept. of Homeland Security and they got mired in the political and bureaucratic BS the all that entails.

[Rosina Cernak]

~snip~They need to make these more like foodstamp cards or WIC cards, that way they can't be spent on this type of stuff again.
with you on this one