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Posted by: USMCMP5811

Evacuees binge on Cape: Spend fed cash on booze, strippers
By Maggie Mulvihill and Dave Wedge
Tuesday, October 18, 2005 - Updated: 03:04 PM EST

BOURNE – Hurricane Katrina evacuees hastily handed $2,000 in federal relief money last month have been living it up on Cape Cod, blowing cash on booze and strippers, a Herald investigation has found.


Herald reporters witnessed blatant public drinking at a Falmouth strip mall by Katrina victims living at taxpayer expense at Camp Edwards on Otis Air Force Base. And strippers at Zachary's nightclub in Mashpee, a few miles from the Bourne base, report giving lap dances to several evacuees.


``They were tipping me $5 a pop,'' said a Zachary's dancer named Angel. ``I told them I felt bad taking their money. But I still took it.''


Another dancer said a large group from the military base was in Zachary's recently and she gave lap dances to several of the victims.


``Some spend good money, but others don't,'' she said.


An assistant club manager, who gave his name only as Michael, acknowledged yesterday that the strip joint is popular with people from Camp Edwards.


``It's no different for someone who lives at Camp Edwards or is stationed at Camp Edwards. As long as they have the proper ID they can go in,'' he said.


On Oct. 5, the Herald observed a virtual parade of evacuees from a bus stop in the Wal-Mart parking lot in Falmouth to nearby liquor stores. Some emerged and openly swilled from brown-bagged containers, while others poured booze into jugs or plastic cups and casually sipped drinks at the Wal-Mart bus stop.


The refugees have access to daily trolley service from Camp Edwards to the Falmouth Mall.


One elderly man poured a bottle of Ruble vodka into a water bottle and spent the afternoon sipping the liquor outside the Wal-Mart. Two other men were seen buying 32-ounce Coors Light cans at George's Liquors and drinking at the bus stop.


Last Tuesday, one 52-year-old evacuee, who told a reporter he was originally from Cuba, stood in the rain outside Wal-Mart for several hours drinking gin and orange juice from a thermos. The same day, a female evacuee bought ice at a supermarket and roughly $30 worth of hard liquor before being driven in a car back to Camp Edwards. Evacuees are banned from bringing booze onto the base.

One Camp Edwards source said evacuees swiped liquor off shelves at the U.S. Coast Guard store on the base and drank it in the aisles.


The Federal Emergency Management Agency has issued more than $1.5 billion to 607,000 Katrina victims in the form of individual cash handouts of $2,000. There are no restrictions on how the money can be spent, FEMA officials said.


Gov. Mitt Romney and the Legislature approved a $25 million emergency aid package to feed and house 235 of the evacuees at Camp Edwards. As of mid-September, the Red Cross had doled out another $25,000 in debit cards for victims sent to the Bay State.


The Camp Edwards residents have been treated to Red Sox and New Orleans Saints games, Boston Duck Tours, a chowder fest, concerts, and free cell phone and Internet service, as well as cookouts sponsored by Romney and U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.).


Since the Sept. 8 arrival of the original 235 evacuees, a handful of unruly drunks have been taken into protective custody, according to law enforcement officials.


More than half the evacuees have left Camp Edwards for other housing, and 114 refugees remain at the encampment, which is slated for shutdown Thursday.


Falmouth police Chief David Cusolita said police cracked down on public drinking at the Wal-Mart after complaints last month but he reported no recent incidents.


Barnstable Sheriff Jim Cummings said some of the intoxicated refugees were taken into custody by state police, while others were escorted to their dorms.



Hmmmmmmm..... nothing like trying to get your life back on track, but I sapose for some of these assclowns, their lif is back on track, Thr Government giving them a free ride....

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Posted by: USMCMP5811

Fed-cash splash for some evacuees
By Thomas Caywood
Wednesday, February 15, 2006 - Updated: 12:27 AM EST


Hurricane Katrina victims evacuated to Cape Cod weren’t the only ones blowing federal disaster relief dough on booze and strippers, according to a new federal audit that found additional examples of the kind of misuse reported by the Herald four months ago.

One evacuee charged up a $1,200 bill at a Houston strip club on a $2,000 debit card issued by the Federal Emergency Management Agency to cover living expenses, according the U.S. Government Accounting Office audit.

Another evacuee plunked down government plastic for a $450 tattoo in Addison, Texas, and another paid $1,300 for a .45-caliber pistol in Jefferson, La..

The audit was released as 12,000 families made homeless by the hurricane were forced out of their federally funded hotel rooms around the country.

FEMA told evacuees they will still receive $1,800 in federal rent assistance — but that sum is painfully inadequate in the devastated Gulf real estate market.

“These people are going to be homeless,” Bill Quigley, a lawyer for the New Orleans evacuees, told the Associated Press yesterday.

The GAO audit found numerous cases of scammers posing as hurricane victims to score FEMA debit cards, filing for multiple cards and using fake Social Security numbers.

“We took a random sample of debit cards and tracked their usage,” said GAO spokesman Paul Anderson, who couldn’t say if any bogus Bay State charges showed up.

In October, Herald reporters witnessed blatant public drinking at a Falmouth strip mall by Katrina evacuees living at taxpayer expense at Camp Edwards. Strippers at Zachary’s nightclub in Mashpee, a few miles from the Bourne base, reported giving lap dances to several of the New Orleans evacuees.

Similarly, GAO investigators reported “in isolated instances debit cards were used to purchase goods and services that did not appear to meet serious disaster related needs.” To wit: $400 at the Swedish Institute massage parlor in Irving, Texas; $200 at Tiger Beer and Wine in Dallas; and $150 at Condoms to Go in Dallas.

“There’s continuing forensic audit work going on,” Anderson said, adding that any cases of fraud uncovered will be turned over to the Department of Justice’s Hurricane Katrina Fraud Task Force for possible prosecution.
Legitimate recipients of the cards were technically free to spend the money on whatever they wanted, a FEMA spokesman said.

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Posted by: Wolfman

Quote:

One evacuee charged up a $1,200 bill at a Houston strip club on a $2,000 debit card issued by the Federal Emergency Management Agency to cover living expenses, according the U.S. Government Accounting Office audit.

$1,200? Now that's LIVING!

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