Red Cross Fraud Discovered in Katrina Aid

The Red Cross has gone from being inefficient to being an outright fraud:

Red Cross Fraud

Per Jacqueline L. Salmon of WaPo:

Nearly 50 people have been indicted in connection with a scheme that bilked hundreds of thousands of dollars from a Red Cross program to put cash into the hands of Hurricane Katrina victims, according to federal authorities.

Seventeen of the accused worked at the Red Cross claim center in Bakersfield, Calif., which handled calls from storm victims across the country and authorized cash payments to them. The others were the workers' relatives and friends, prosecutors said last week.

Red Cross realized that they were being a partner in the fraud when claims were coming from people in Bakersfield, CA which is the same location of the call center and had a very low number of hurricane victims:

The scam came to light when Red Cross officials noticed that a suspiciously high number of people were picking up Red Cross money at Western Union outlets near the Bakersfield center, even though few evacuees were in the area.

I apologize for offering up the Red Cross during Katrina Aid via the blogger fund raising drive. I thought that they would be the best organization to gather donations and quickly and efficiently distribute it to those in need in such a desperate circumstance. I was very wrong and would not recommend that you donate to the Red Cross "ever again". The 911 disasters of the Red Cross have been repeated in the Katrina relief efforts. I did not think that was possible, and shame on me.

Pathetic and unforgivable.........................Time to dissolve the Red Cross and replace it................................