GAO: Bad Hurricane Claims Top $1B

As much as $1.4 billion for victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, went to pay for season football tickets, a tropical vacation, dinner at Hooters and even a divorce lawyer, according to federal investigators.

A report released by the Government Accountability Office this week estimated that as much as 16 percent of the billions of dollars in aid distributed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency to individuals after the hurricanes went to bogus charity cases.

FEMA said it has identified more than 1,500 cases of potential fraud since Katrina and Rita, and has referred those cases to the Homeland Security inspector general. The agency said it has identified $16.8 million in improperly awarded disaster relief money and has started efforts to collect the money.

The GAO said it was 95 percent confident that improper and potentially fraudulent payments were much higher: between $600 million and $1.4 billion.

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