// BEGIN editorial data var i = 0; var GAO_Katrina_060210 = new Array(); GAO_Katrina_060210.ID = "GAO_Katrina_060210"; GAO_Katrina_060210.ID_WB = 11279893; GAO_Katrina_060210.sPubDate = "2/10/2006 11:51:52 PM GMT"; GAO_Katrina_060210.navsectionID = "3032524" GAO_Katrina_060210.appFmt = 2; GAO_Katrina_060210.itemsPerPage = 1; GAO_Katrina_060210.appWidth = 460; GAO_Katrina_060210.appHeader = "Excerpts from GAO investigation"; GAO_Katrina_060210.appDeck = "Agency examined FEMA aid after Hurricanes Katrina, Rita"; GAO_Katrina_060210.appFooter = "Source: U.S. Government Accountability Office"; GAO_Katrina_060210.appNavStyle = 3; GAO_Katrina_060210.appLayout = 3; GAO_Katrina_060210.copyWidth = 350; GAO_Katrina_060210.copyMargin = 9; GAO_Katrina_060210[i++] = new Array("","Web site verification","For registrations taken through FEMA’s Web site, registrants were required to first provide a name, SSN, and date of birth. This information was immediately provided (in electronic format) to a FEMA contractor to compare against existing publicly available records. ... Registrants who were rejected via the Internet were advised to contact FEMA via telephone. Our audit and investigative work indicated that this verification process helped deter obviously fraudulent Internet registrations using false names and SSNs. However, FEMA kept no record of the names, SSNs, and other information related to the rejected registrations, and no record of the reasons that the FEMA contractor blocked the registration from going forward. FEMA acknowledged that it was conceivable that individuals who were rejected because of false information submitted via the Internet could get expedited assistance payments by providing the same false information over the telephone. ","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", ""); GAO_Katrina_060210[i++] = new Array("","Faulty public records","According to information we received from the SSA, nearly 60 Internet registrants who received FEMA payments provided SSNs that were never issued or belonged to individuals who were deceased prior to the hurricanes. Results indicate that these individuals may have passed the verification process because public records used to verify registrants’ identities were flawed. For example, one credit history we obtained indicated that a registrant had established a credit history using an invalid SSN. ","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", ""); GAO_Katrina_060210[i++] = new Array("","Phone process susceptible","We tested the controls by attempting to register for disaster relief through two portals: (1) the Internet via FEMA’s Web site and (2) telephone calls to FEMA. For both portals, we tested FEMA’s controls by providing falsified identities and bogus addresses. In all instances, FEMA’s Web site did not allow us to successfully finalize our registrations. ... Our investigative work also confirmed that the lack of similar controls over telephone registrations exposed FEMA to fraud and abuse. Specifically, in instances where we submitted via the telephone the same exact information that had been rejected on the Internet, i.e., falsified identities and bogus addresses, the information was accepted as valid. Subsequently, the claims were processed and $2,000 expedited assistance checks were issued. ","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", ""); GAO_Katrina_060210[i++] = new Array("","Nonexistent addresses used","Of the over 200 alleged damaged addresses that we tried to visit, about 80 did not exist. Some were vacant lots, others turned out to be bogus apartment buildings and units. Because the hurricanes had destroyed many homes, we were unable to confirm whether about 15 additional addresses had ever existed. ","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", ""); GAO_Katrina_060210[i++] = new Array("","17 submitted 36 applications"," Seventeen individuals, several of whom had the same last name, ... submitted at least 36 registrations claiming to be disaster victims of both Katrina and Rita. All 36 registrations were submitted through the telephone, using 36 different SSNs and 4 different current addresses. These individuals used their own SSNs on 2 of the registrations, but the remaining 34 SSNs were never issued or belonged to deceased or other individuals. The individuals received over $103,000 in IHP payments, including $62,000 in expedited payments and $41,000 in payments for other assistance, including temporary housing assistance.
","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", ""); GAO_Katrina_060210[i++] = new Array("","Widespread fraud seen","Based on data provided by the SSA, FEMA made expedited assistance payments to thousands of registrants who provided SSNs that were never issued or belonged to deceased individuals. Further, SSA officials who assisted GAO in analyzing FEMA’s registrant data informed us that tens of thousands more provided SSNs that belonged to other individuals. ","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", ""); GAO_Katrina_060210[i++] = new Array("","Multiple payments ","Both our investigations and data mining found thousands of instances where FEMA made more than one payment to the same household that shared the same last name and damaged and current addresses. ... Similarly, our data mining also determined that FEMA made payments to tens of thousands of IHP registrants who provided different damaged addresses but the same exact current address. ... Some registrations that fell into this category contained bogus addresses or addresses that were not the registrants’ residences. ","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", ""); GAO_Katrina_060210[i++] = new Array("","Debit card problems","In the days following Hurricane Katrina, FEMA experimented with the use of debit cards to expedite payments of $2,000 to about 11,000 disaster victims at three Texas shelters who, according to FEMA, had difficulties accessing their bank accounts. ... We found that because FEMA did not validate the identity of debit card recipients who registered over the telephone, some individuals who supplied FEMA with SSNs that did not belong to them also received debit cards. We also found that controls over the debit card program were not effectively designed and implemented to prevent debit card recipients from receiving duplicate expedited assistance payments, once through the debit card and again through check or (electronic fund transfer). ","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", ""); GAO_Katrina_060210[i++] = new Array("","Misuse of debit cards","We found that in isolated instances, debit cards were used for adult entertainment, to purchase weapons, and for purchases at a massage parlor that had been previously raided by local police for prostitution. Our analysis of debit card transaction data ... found that the debit cards were used predominantly to obtain cash which did not allow us to determine how the money was actually used.","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", ""); // END editorial data