New York Post - $$ SICKOS STOLE 9/11 AC FUNDS

Thursday July 13, 2006

From New York Post:

$$ SICKOS STOLE 9/11 AC FUNDS

By GEOFF EARLE and IAN BISHOP Post Correspondents

July 13, 2006 -- WASHINGTON - Thousands of coldblooded cheats scammed taxpayers out of millions after 9/11 by ripping off a $100 million government program to provide air conditioners, investigators told Congress yesterday.

"They were still trying to extract bodies, and there were still people down there stealing for their own selfish purposes," said Rep. Peter King (R-L.I.) at a hearing on Ground Zero fraud.

The AC units and air purifiers - valued at about $1,200 each - were supposed to replace units ruined by the contaminated dust cloud after the Twin Towers' collapse.

But thousands of people lied about ever having owned an AC unit - causing investigators to conclude that an astounding 62 percent of applicants were ineligible, but got free units anyway.

Others got money in advance, but none sampled provided required receipts, and may have spent the money on anything.

"I'm very disturbed by the failure to prosecute many of these people," said Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.).

The Manhattan District Attorney's Office responded that hundreds of fraud cases were prosecuted. "We were aggressive in seeking restitution as well as prison time for many of those defendants," a spokeswoman said.

The program was originally planned to cost $15 million but soared to $100 million.

Investigators say they saved FEMA $120 million by getting 100,000 people to cancel their applications. Probers said 129,000 people got air conditioners.

Among other 9/11 scams exposed at an oversight hearing by a House Homeland Security subcommittee were:

* A temporary FEMA employee participated in a scam to defraud the government out of $1 million through a rental assistance program.

* Investigators got 1,100 complaints of fraud under various assistance programs. Officials said 117 people were arrested or indicted, and 96 got convicted.

- * One man tried to get money from the Red Cross by claiming he lost a child - by showing an old picture of himself.