Louisiana improperly spent relief funds in past years, audits find

Chicago Sun-times ^ | 09/14/2005 | Lisa Hoffman

[KeyLargo]

Louisiana improperly spent relief funds in past years, audits find

By LISA HOFFMAN Scripps Howard News Service 13-SEP-05

WASHINGTON -- An L.L. Bean briefcase and raincoat. Professional dues and charitable contributions. A trip to Germany. Video equipment. A 2002 Ford Crown Victoria.

According to two federal audits, those are just some of the items that Louisiana state emergency officials improperly bought with some of the $228 million in U.S. disaster funds they received in recent years.

The audits also found that the Louisiana Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness ignored federal rules for overseeing contractors, doling out more than $15 million in aid without keeping any records to show what 97 percent of the money was spent on, according to a report by the inspector general's office of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

"Significant internal controls weaknesses and noncompliance situations were identified during the audit," said the Nov. 4 review of Louisiana's disaster assistance spending from 1998 to 2003.funds.

Those dry words ring loud now to watchdog groups concerned that the state's share of the $80 billion in federal taxpayers cash funneling into Louisiana since Hurricane Katrina will similarly disappear, mostly unmonitored.

"The more you spend, the more opportunity there is for fraud, and they're spending a lot of money," said Thomas Schatz, president of Citizens Against Government Waste.

Officials at the state agency could not be reached for comment. But Louisiana state treasurer John Kennedy told reporters in Baton Rouge this week that he wants to establish a review process to make sure the money will be used properly before it is handed out. The state's storied reputation as a pit of public corruption no doubt means scrutiny of Katrina relief spending will be strict.

He and other state leaders said they are beefing up their staffs, which have been too lean in the past. In response to the Nov. 4 inspector general's audit and one released Feb. 25, state officials said they had been overwhelmed by a series of disasters during the five years studied, but subsequently had added staff and inspectors to handle the load.

Two minimal hurricanes, three tropical storms, two winter storms, and the aftermath of the 2003 Space Shuttle Columbia disaster strained the state over that period, Louisiana officials told the auditors.

Wary of a boondoggle in the making, the Homeland Security inspector general's office said Tuesday it is dispatching 30 investigators and auditors to Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama to oversee the payments to state and local agencies, private contractors and, to a lesser extent, individuals.

"We're going to be efficient," Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said Tuesday in announcing the oversight team.

A look at the violations uncovered by the audits shows inefficiencies have abounded in the past:

_ Louisiana personnel failed to perform dozens of final inspections to make sure relief and recovery projects were completed properly.

_ Of the $15.4 million paid to contractors on 19 projects sampled, auditors found paperwork showing where the money went, and for what, for just $495,000 of the spending.

_ Poor record-keeping resulted in some recipients getting duplicate checks, with $1.7 million in total overpayments estimated to have resulted.

(Contact Lisa Hoffman at HoffmanL(at)shns.com)

[KeyLargo]

Don't you feel warm and fuzzy knowing that our senators have authorized billions of dollars in handouts compliments of us taxpayers to be used just like this for Katrina?

[Red Badger]

There should be criminal prosecutions and long prison sentences for this .................

[Red Badger]

Louisiana - Half under water and half under indictment.........

[Millee]

Tancredo's right. Don't send these fools the relief money.

[Mo1]

FYI Ping

[mewzilla]

I just heard Rep. Tom Tancredo on Laura Ingraham's radio show. Tancredo quoted someone from the FBI who said that corruption in the state of LA is endemic. And Tancredo is worried about what's going to happen to all the taxpayers' money that Congress is shovelling down there.

[cake_crumb]

It's obvious Louisiana didn't spent the money it received for flood control ON flood control, but it's somehow still Bush's fault instead of the fault of corrupt LA officials.

[Pinetop]

Yeah, if those nursing home owners are under indictment for negligent homicide, why is it that the mayor, governor and levee board are getting a free pass?

[smonk]

this isn't news. new orleans, to pursue the metaphor, has always been awash in corruption.

[Emmett McCarthy]

I read somewhere that Huey Long once said, "Someday Louisiana's gonna get good government - and they ain't gonna like it."

[stopem]

So what can we as citizens do about it? We know it's happening as we speak. Form a CONSERVATIVE'S for accountability??

[Red Badger]

.....are getting a free pass?

Uhhh..........(D).............

[Red Badger]

Originally, it was a haven for pirates and smugglers............still is..........

[kellynla]

BTTT

[smonk]

---Originally, it was a haven for pirates and smugglers............still is..........---

and french people ;)

[Red Badger]

Russel Long, "I don't buy politicians. I rent them, it's much cheaper!"........

[popdonnelly]

Three comments on Hurricane Katrina:

- Nagin should have ordered the evacuation sooner and should have seen that it was more effectively carried out;

- Blanco created chaos by her inability to make an intelligent decision after the hurricane struck;

- Mary Landrieu is covering up for the incompetence of the Louisiana government, with help from her Democrat friends in Congress.

[daybreakcoming]

Once upon a time when we lived in LA - there came a hurricane (forget which one) - we took on a few inches of wind driven water in our house. The LA FEMA continually sent a guy out trying to talk us into taking some money. We were young, proud, maybe foolish in some people's eyes, but we didn't think we should take it. We were the ones who chose to live on the banks of a river and we knew the risks. Why should the government bail us out? We replaced our flooring, etc. ourselves and lived there for several more years.

[PBRSTREETGANG]

So what can we as citizens do about it?

Me? I'm buying a small piece of property down there so that I can cash in the next time this happens.

[RSmithOpt]

I have an interesting thought.

If Director of the Dept,. of Homeland Security is now a cabinet position, then, does it not make total sense that in order for President Bush to uphold his oath of office, the part to defend this nation from all enemies both foreign and domestic, that Chirtoff has to ensure the citizens are protect from the corrupt enemy RATS. It is evident that fraud and waste by government personnel directly undermines the security efforts of the federal government.

So, with that thought, I seriously hope federal auditors crawl up every orifice with a fine tooth comb of all persons involved in spending the federal dollars sent to improve security and emergency preparedness in the state of LA. To commit fraud against the federal government is a felony and such actions by the corrupt in LA government should receive the maximum allowable punishment once found guilty.

Time to send that message out loud and clear to all politicians in this country.