Senate panel to probe allegations of FEMA fraud

The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee plans to investigate allegations of fraud and waste in the distribution of Federal Emergency Management Agency aid to Florida and other states hit by hurricanes last year.

Committee Chairwoman Susan Collins, R-Maine, and ranking member Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., announced the probe after reports in the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel raised concerns that disaster aid has been wasted or granted to localities and individuals that may not have qualified for assistance.

FEMA spokesman James McIntyre issued a brief statement Friday saying the agency will hold a press conference Monday to address the concerns. He would not comment on whether FEMA is doing an internal scrub of how disaster aid was distributed.

"FEMA stands behind the hundreds of thousands of disaster victims throughout Florida who are eligible and entitled to disaster assistance, and we are confident in our programs that provide this needed assistance," McIntyre said.

Collins and Lieberman said local emergency management officials and members of Congress have expressed concern that disaster aid has been subjected to fraud and abuse following the hurricanes that hit Florida and the southern Atlantic coast last year. Their committee has jurisdiction over FEMA, which is part of the Homeland Security Department.

"Federal disaster relief is very important to help families and communities rebuild from a disaster; however, it must be limited to those who have truly suffered losses. It is troubling that scarce disaster assistance may have gone to areas that did not warrant assistance," Collins and Lieberman said in a joint statement. "We need to make sure that the integrity of FEMA's disaster relief program-and taxpayers-are protected from fraudulent claims, inefficient government processing and wasteful spending."

They added that the DHS inspector general also is undertaking an investigation.

Committee spokeswoman Elissa Davidson said it is too early to tell how the probe will proceed or when hearings might be held. "We are starting the investigation," she said. "The concerns are valid."

The Sun-Sentinel reported on several discrepancies related to the aid, such as tens of millions of dollars given to thousands of residents who were not touched by disaster, and reports that disaster aid bought rooms full of furniture, new wardrobes and thousands of TVs and appliances. The government also paid for new cars, dental bills and a funeral in Miami-Dade County, even though the county's medical examiner recorded no storm-related deaths.

The newspaper's investigation revealed "a management problem in FEMA," Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., said Thursday.

Nelson asked Collins and Lieberman in a Dec. 21 letter to push the Government Accountability Office to conduct an investigation, as well.

"As you know, Congress approved $8.5 billion in aid after multiple hurricanes hit Florida this year," Nelson wrote in the letter. "Considering these recent reports of people collecting aid without having experienced a loss, I seek your assistance now in reviewing FEMA's payouts for all the claims from Hurricanes Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne."