Gulf area ripe for fraud
The dead are applying for disaster relief aid in South Mississippi, or so it appears from plot lists obtained by officials working with the Hurricane Katrina Fraud Task Force.
"They've certainly gotten creative," said Luci Willoughby, administrator of finance at the American Red Cross headquarters in South Mississippi. "We've got some people using a (Biloxi) graveyard as their pre-disaster address. Some of them are for people who are on the (cemetery's) plot list."
It's the same type of scenario that played out in Florida after Hurricane Andrew hit, though officials here say it's too soon to tell if each of the 40 suspected cases from one Biloxi cemetery are fraudulent. A criminal investigation is ongoing.
That's just one example of the many types of suspected fraud that local, state and federal investigators with the Hurricane Katrina Task Force are interested in tackling.
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"They've certainly gotten creative," said Luci Willoughby, administrator of finance at the American Red Cross headquarters in South Mississippi. "We've got some people using a (Biloxi) graveyard as their pre-disaster address. Some of them are for people who are on the (cemetery's) plot list."
It's the same type of scenario that played out in Florida after Hurricane Andrew hit, though officials here say it's too soon to tell if each of the 40 suspected cases from one Biloxi cemetery are fraudulent. A criminal investigation is ongoing.
That's just one example of the many types of suspected fraud that local, state and federal investigators with the Hurricane Katrina Task Force are interested in tackling.
More...
posted by Kent at 9:08 PM
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