About the Author

Richard Cochrane is trained in chemistry and metallurgy but is far more interested and practiced as a political and fund raising consultant, writer and amateur historian. He grew up in a Navy family and with his two younger brothers carried on its 500+ year tradition of naval service to Great Britain and the USA then enjoyed a career with one of the largest advertising and public relations agencies working with numerous Fortune 500 companies and many of America's premier educational institutions. He maintains friendships and acquaintanceships around the world. He lives in Santa Barbara, California.

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Thousands of Karina “Victims” Collected As Much As $150,000 Undeserved

March 29th, 2008 • Richard Cochrane

As many as 5,000 Katrina victims may have received tens of thousands of dollar more than they were entitled to due to what appears to be incompetence of a private contractor charged with dispensing taxpayer monies to them. The average amount of overpayment is estimated to be approximately $35,000, but in some cases may be as high as $100,000 to $150,000. In the rush to pay residents the $11 billion program almost inevitably ran afoul. Now the government wants those over-payments back amid cries, moaning and more than a little political posturing.

Some of the recipients have spent the funds on extravagance and collecting the misappropriated taxpayer money will be fraught with charges of mistreatment and unfairness. This is a boondoggle of epic proportions and it is likely that the U. S. taxpayer will be the ultimate victims once more as “victims” enjoy exotic vacations and Cadillacs paid for by the real victims.

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There Are 5 Responses So Far. »

  1. Comment by Fairby on 30 March 2008:

    Wow, I see that 1000’s of Katrina “victims” were dragged unwillingly to the government handout office by one private contractor and forced to accept millions of dollars of taxpayers money.

    And not a single one of these “victims” were aware they were committing felony fraud.

  2. Comment by taxpayer on 30 March 2008:

    FAIRBY - No one was “forced” but they knew they did not deserve the tens of thousands of dollars. Now return it.

  3. Comment by DownriverDem on 1 April 2008:

    Taxpayer: Do you really think those folks knew that they didn’t deserve the money that they were told they qualify for?

    It’s a very complex process and if they were told this is what they can get, who are you to say that they should have known they didn’t deserve the money?

    Why doesn’t it matter to you that the lending institutions preyed on the borrowers?

    It is not all one sided like you suggest? You must be a Republican.

  4. Comment by taxpayer on 2 April 2008:

    DownriverDem: COMPLEX? How could anyone believe that getting an extra $150,000 (an everage of $35,000) above the announced maximum was right? That’s why they went to Hawaii and stayed in a luxusry hotel for months or bought a luxury car. and didn’t spend it on housing. They didn’t deserve it - give taxpayer back out money!

  5. Comment by Taxpayer Too on 6 April 2008:

    I am a businessman getting govt contracts all the time. And there are clauses everyday making the contractor liable for boon-dogles a lot less expensive than this… Who is watching out for the taxpayer?

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