Project Katrina

CNN has a story that outlines that a number of contractors working for the Red Cross have been indicted for filing false claims and collecting Katrina funds. I think there are two important things here that need to be mentioned. One, these were contractors, not full-time Red Cross employees. My gut is they were hired so the Red Cross could get money to people faster then they could with their normal staff members. Two, the cases that are being investigated are only a small, small fraction of the total funds the Red Cross has filled.

Forty-nine people have been indicted in a scam to pocket Red Cross hurricane relief funds and more indictments are expected, according to Justice Department officials.

Authorities said 22 people working for a Red Cross contractor at a call center in Bakersfield, California, filed false claims, and by involving family members and friends, brought the number of people under indictment to 49.

"I’m really surprised people in this day and time would try to take advantage of the system that’s intended to help those in need," said Jackie Smith, whose brother-in-law was named in the indictment on charges of wire fraud.

Towards the end of the story I think CNN hits on something that should have been in the lead.

Cooper said that about 4,000 cases of assistance out of 1.4 million were being investigated, involving about $400,000 of the $1.4 billion the Red Cross distributed.