June 30, 2025

logo
Login Subscribe e-Edition Archives
logo
Login Subscribe e-Edition Archives
Google Play App Store
  • News
  • Sports
  • Lifestyle
  • Photo Gallery
  • Columns/Opinions
  • Obituaries
  • Classifieds
  • Public Notices
  • Special Sections
    • News
    • Sports
    • Lifestyle
    • Photo Gallery
    • Columns/Opinions
    • Obituaries
    • Classifieds
    • Public Notices
    • Special Sections
$2-billion in fraud for Katrina bailouts
$2-billion in fraud for Katrina bailouts
News
September 13, 2021
$2-billion in fraud for Katrina bailouts

(The Center Square) - Hurricane Ida battered Louisiana on Sunday, August 29, doing billions of dollars in damage and knocking out power for more than 1 million customers. That happened to be the 16th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina hitting New Orleans, killing more than 1,800 people during its existence.

(The Center Square) – Hurricane Ida battered Louisiana on Sunday, August 29, doing billions of dollars in damage and knocking out power for more than 1 million customers.

That happened to be the 16th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina hitting New Orleans, killing more than 1,800 people during its existence. In addition, the hurricane was estimated to have caused more than $160 billion in damage.

Quickly, the fraud began.

The FBI announced in October 2008 that the Hurricane Katrina Fraud Task Force brought federal charges against 907 people across the country for committing a “wide range of crimes including emergency-benefit fraud, identity theft, procurement fraud and public corruption.”

Less than a year after the hurricane, the New York Times called the waste and fraud “breathtaking,” estimating that “one of the most extraordinary displays of scams, schemes and stupefying bureaucratic bungles” cost taxpayers up to $2 billion.

The fraud was rampant. The Times gave examples: a hotel owner in Sugar Land, Tex., charged with submitting $232,000 in bills for phantom victims and about 1,100 inmates across the Gulf Coast collecting more than $10 million in rental and disaster-relief assistance. also bad, including officials ordering almost half a billion dollars’ worth of mobile homes that were never used, and spending about $416,000 per evacuee on renovations for a shelter at a former Alabama Army base.

An investigation by the Washington Examiner 10 years after Katrina found that it was impossible to know just how much money had been lost to waste and fraud.

The government’s response to both Katrina and COVID-19 shows us that emergencies and disasters attract bad actors and they cost taxpayers billions of dollars.

The bureaucratic bungling was

ePaper
coogle_play
app_store
It might also interest you...
It’s Time To Prepare!
News
It’s Time To Prepare!
For Sales Along 84
By Craig Franklin Editor 
June 25, 2025
Officials urge businesses/residents to make preparations for September’s Sales Along 84 “People from other states have already contacted us and told u...
this is a test
A: Main, News
Ways to Prepare for Sales Along 84:
June 25, 2025
1. Businesses/Restaurants are asked to extend hours. Businesses encouraged to stay open at least 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. and restaurants stay open later into ...
this is a test
Jena Survives Two Nights With No Water
A: Main, News
Jena Survives Two Nights With No Water
Cleanup begins as water project is completed
By Craig Franklin Editor 
June 25, 2025
Cleanup begins as water project is completed For two nights last week, the Town of Jena’s water was completely shut off as contractors completed the f...
this is a test
Olla Woman Honored For Weight Loss Success
A: Main, News
Olla Woman Honored For Weight Loss Success
Submitted Article 
June 25, 2025
TOPS Club, Inc. (Take Off Pounds SensiblySM), the nonprofit weight-loss support organization, is unveiling its “royalty” for 2024. TOPS royalty are wo...
this is a test
Newspaper In Education Deemed Successful
A: Main, News
Newspaper In Education Deemed Successful
Staff Report 
June 25, 2025
As the final school bell rang signaling the end of the 2024-2025 school year, it also signified the end of the first ever, LaSalle Parish Newspaper in...
this is a test
Mahmoud Khalil No Longer In Jena Facility
News
Mahmoud Khalil No Longer In Jena Facility
By Craig Franklin Editor 
June 25, 2025
Approximately 30 individuals said prayers of thanksgiving for the release of Mahmoud Khalil Saturday afternoon, June 21, as another caravan of protest...
this is a test
ACE Circular
ePaper
coogle_play
app_store
ACE Circular
ePaper
coogle_play
app_store
Search Public Notices

The Jena Times
OLLA-TULLOS-URANIA SIGNAL
P: (318) 992-4121

Office Hours:
Mon-Fri, 8am-4pm
Sat-Sun, Closed

This site complies with ADA requirements

©2025 The Jena Times

  • Advertisers
  • Contact
  • Privacy Accessibility Policy