Posted on 09/18/2005 2:01:45 PM PDT by KateatRFM
Crackdown on relief fraud brings more arrests
At least 25 have been accused of trying to obtain money that wasn't meant for them
By ROSANNA RUIZ
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle
At least 25 people have been arrested and accused of attempting to "double dip" and fraudulently receive Hurricane Katrina relief funds from the American Red Cross, Houston Police Chief Harold Hurtt announced Friday.
The arrests were made Thursday and Friday at St. Agnes Baptist Church, where the Red Cross has been distributing checks and debit cards meant for evacuees, Hurtt said.
As of Friday night, misdemeanor and felony charges were filed against 11 people. Providing false information is punishable by up to two years in prison, Hurtt said.
The crackdown comes just days after Mayor Bill White and Hurtt announced that such scofflaws would be found and prosecuted and after the creation of a special Houston Police Department unit, the Katrina Debit Card Fraud Task Force.
"We told you we would be very aggressive in arrests and prosecution," Hurtt said at a news conference.
One person questioned turned out to be a Beaumont resident who ultimately was released, but the case is pending. It remains unknown whether the 15 people arrested, ranging in age from 15 to 42, are indeed Katrina victims.
One of those charged was a 15-year-old who successfully obtained Red Cross money using a bogus license that indicated he was three years older, police said. The teen identified himself as the head of a household that included a 6- or 7-year-old child, said Lt. C. Williams of the HPD burglary and theft division. The teen's actions were discovered on a second attempt to get Red Cross money. Williams said some of the arrests are the result of HPD officers posing as volunteers, while uniformed officers also are on patrol where funds are distributed. Volunteers, Williams added, have been pointing out people who have repeatedly sought more money.
"We have people observing the process for any suspicious activity, and we will make arrests and seek prosecution," Williams said.
Gregory Smith, a Red Cross official, explained that the crackdown does not apply to those who make innocent mistakes, but it is directed at those who intentionally seek relief funds more than once.
The fraud, Smith said, has a "demoralizing" effect on volunteers and those who truly need the help. Meanwhile, he added, Red Cross officials worry the thefts will result in fewer donations to the agency.
rosanna.ruiz@chron.com
I've been wondering if the relief agencies coulnd't use finger-inking like in the Iraqi elections to prevent double-dipping.
Reading all of this was quite a shocker, story after story of FEMA the cash cow.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/sfl-femacoverage,0,6697347.storygallery?coll=sfla-news-utility
Any NOPD looters or car thieves arrested yet?
Yes, they "caught" 25. How many have they not caught?
My brother in MS was telling me about folks he knows who got generators care of FEMA in the days following Katrina. None of them had a life-threatening reason for the generators. They were just taking advantage of the freebies. It's akin to looting in my book. And it's why so many cringed when President Bush set forth his plan for rebuilding the affected regions.
Wasn't Rosie (Roseanna?) Ruiz the one who cheated at the NY Marathon years ago?
It begs the question: how many are getting away with the fraud?
It begs the qustion: how many are getting away with the fraud?
Well the brat who was caught would not have been caught if he'd been intelligent enough to leave it at one dip -- when he went back for a second one, they got him.
It's all stealing, and I'm sure the Hollyweirds who are saying looting is OK because 'they are getting things they knew they could never have otherwise' will be making excuses for them too. (Harry Conick Jr. was saying that about looting being okay if you were taking things you could not afford (like plasma TV sets). I wonder how he'd feel if they broke his door down and started looting his things.
With the current disloyal left, there was no chance that Katrina would not be made political, and being made so is probably the biggest loss to the entire nation as it ensures much less recovery per dollar spent. Damn Rats will kill their own voters for the opportunity to politically grandstand.
Couldn't they use a biometric fingerprint scanner for this? When someone comes to collect relief they first put thier index finger on the scanner which scans and records their fingerprint. If the fingerpints comes up as already in the database then the person is double-dipping and is refused a further debit card or whatever.
Here's a company that makes just such a device that links to a laptop, hgihly protable, selling for around $600 and according to a salesman, "under $500 in quantity."
CrossMatch Technologies
http://www.crossmatch.com/products_livescan_id500.html
"hgihly protable" = highly portable
(sheesh!)
Why give the little creep anything?
Offer these losers the opportunity to do some work. If they refuse, let them starve.
Wrong model:
Cheap portable (< 1 lb.) fingerprint scanner is this one:
http://www.crossmatch.com/products_singlescan_v30lc.html
Those arrested were taken to police headquarters where they were given an O'Brien's Hurricane, a Por=Boy, and some necklaces. Then a jazz band was brought in for their dining entertainment. Everyone shared their favorite looting stories and promised to write! A fun time was had by all!
How French.
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