Hurricane Disaster is over but disaster fraud just beginning.

This year’s Atlantic hurricane season is almost over, but in the wake of Gustav and Ike, the season for disaster fraud is just beginning.

Hurricanes and other natural disasters—like this summer’s California wildfires—bring out the best in people, who volunteer to help with cleanup efforts and make charitable contributions to victims. But disaster also brings out the worst in people—and not just crooks and scam artists. Sometimes, when it appears there’s easy money to be made and no one is watching, otherwise law-abiding citizens can get caught up in crime.

How else to explain the case of the fire chief who’s now serving 14 years in jail? The Louisiana resident, who had no previous criminal record, volunteered to organize medical relief efforts in Baton Rouge shortly after Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast in 2005. He then proceeded to steal and sell nearly $500,000 worth of government-owned defibrillators. When the theft was discovered and an investigation was begun, the fire chief tried unsuccessfully to hire a hit man to kill a witness that could link him to the crime.

And how else to explain the actions of a certain Texas man, who even before Hurricane Ike made landfall last month, was seen beating his pickup truck with an empty propane tank? He told a friend he planned to report the battered truck as having been storm-damaged so he could collect an insurance settlement.

Frauds large and small related to disasters are the business of the National Center for Disaster Fraud, formerly known as the Hurricane Katrina Fraud Task Force. This special task force was established by the Department of Justice to investigate, prosecute, and deter fraud in the wake of Katrina, when billions of dollars in federal disaster relief poured into the Gulf Coast region. Now, its mission has expanded to include fraud from any domestic natural or manmade disaster.

More than 20 federal agencies, including the FBI, are co-located at the Baton Rouge command center, and together with local and state law enforcement partners and U.S. Attorneys, the task force has posted impressive results.

To date, the task force has brought federal charges against more than 900 people from all over the country. The command center has screened more than 26,000 complaints—everything from charity fraud and public corruption to contract fraud and identity theft—and referred more than 17,000 of them to law enforcement for investigation. Already, the task force has received 1,300 calls relating to potential fraud from Gustav and Ike.

Of course, the best way to stop fraud is to keep from being a victim in the first place, and that means being aware of how fraudulent schemes work

And for those who see an opportunity for easy money after a disaster by breaking the law? If you think no one is looking, think again. You can fool me once but not twice.

U.S. find no Al Qaeda Links in Mexico

Mexico says it has arrested 12 people on terrorism charges in the years since the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S., but an official said none were linked to Muslim extremist groups like al-Qaida nor were any planning to strike in the United States.

Officials from both nations say there hasn't been any sign of the southern U.S. border becoming an entry point for terrorists, as had been feared after the suicide jetliner hijackings that struck New York and Washington.

The Mexican government revealed the 12 arrests to The Associated Press this week in response to a public information request seeking details of any terrorism arrests in the last seven years. The request was made in February.

Many Americans feared Islamic terrorists from al-Qaida might try to slip into the United States by linking up with the criminal gangs and drug cartels that control large swaths of Mexico and smuggle drugs and migrants across the border.

Months after the 2001 attack, President Bush pushed Mexico to increase security. "We need to use our technology to make sure that we weed out those who we don't want in our country, the terrorists, the 'coyotes,' the smugglers, those that prey on innocent life," he said.

Asked whether Mexico's 12 terrorism arrests were linked to plots against the United States, an official at the Mexican Attorney General's office said none "had anything to do with that."

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because she wasn't authorized to be quoted by name, said those detained had links to Basque militants in Spain or were involved in radical domestic activities in Mexico.

Homeland Security spokesman Russ Knocke said Friday the U.S. continually works with Mexico to ensure terrorists don't turn to Mexico and so far there is no evidence that has happened.

"There's no indication that there's been a direct al-Qaida presence in Mexico," he said. "But there certainly have been individuals that present security concerns."

He wouldn't elaborate, but one of the U.S. government's recent worries has been smuggling networks moving East African migrants through Latin America and into the U.S. Two such smugglers operating in Mexico and Belize were arrested last year.

In a speech Wednesday on international terrorism threats, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said the biggest threat in Mexico is likely the powerful drug trade, in which gangs target both police and civilians and often behead their enemies.

"These enterprises may currently be criminal enterprises, but we cannot rule out the possibility in the future that they may take on a more political coloration," he said.

The U.S. has dramatically increased border security, adding fencing and border agents and monitoring more closely those who cross at border stations.

Mexico also has become much more vigilant of foreigners entering both legally and illegally.

Many people from Muslim countries now have trouble getting visas to visit Mexico, and officials have arrested dozens of Christian Iraqis who fled violence in their homeland and tried to sneak into Southern California through Mexico.

Thomas Sanderson, deputy director of the transnational threats project at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, said al-Qaida usually sends its members through Europe because, unlike Mexico, citizens of those countries can enter U.S. territory without a visa.

"We are more likely to see people come in through airplanes," he said.

He also doubts al-Qaida operatives would expose themselves to organized crime or smuggling groups in Mexico. "They'd be concerned that their cover or their effort would be exposed. It's unfamiliar territory for them," he said.

Pressed to discuss the 12 peopled arrested, the Mexican official would say only that five were Spaniards linked to the Basque separatist group ETA and that seven were Mexicans detained in domestic cases.

She said the purported ETA members were living in Mexico to help finance the group's operations in the Basque region of northern Spain and were not planning attacks.

The official said some of the seven Mexican suspects were tied to murky domestic militant groups that have planted crude bombs at banks, government offices and oil pipelines across Mexico in recent years.

None of those attacks caused human casualties but several of the pipeline attacks had a big financial impact by interrupting fuel supplies to major industries.

Fraudulent U.S. Passport and the dysfunctionality of the system.

Diplomatic Security Investigation Results in 112,Suspects Charged with Federal Passport Fraud

The Investigation Resulted in the Seizure of $650,000 and the Recovery of 80 Fraudulently Issued United States Passports.

The individuals charged included fugitives, military deserters, delinquent taxpayers, parolees, convicted felons, sex-offenders, habitual drunk drivers from over 20 countries. All wanted U.S. passports for the purpose of hiding from law enforcement authorities. Many of the individuals charged resided and worked in their deceased identities for decades, and in many cases their neighbors, employers, spouses and children never knew them by their true names.

Between July 2005 and August 2008, 112 individuals were charged with federal passport fraud and related offenses around the country. The government also seized three firearms, $650,000 in cash, one Mercedes automobile, and over 80 of the fraudulently obtained United States passports.

During their investigation, Diplomatic Security and FBI agents cross-matched computerized government death records with Department of State passport records. This process identified individuals who fraudulently applied for, and obtained, United States passports using birth certificates of deceased Americans. Continue reading here: FBI

The great Wall of Shame.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I say that those who want this fence don't understand the border, don't understand the sense of community.
Along the border, a string of opposition groups ranging from municipal leaders to private landowners continues to argue against the proposed project.

The project will continue despite the controversies and most likely carry on to the next administration. Both major presidential candidates voted as Senators in favor of H.R. 6061 in 2006 and remain committed to the project. The fence will be an important issue for immigrant communities – especially Mexican and Hispanic groups – which see the construction of the barrier with skepticism.
No Mexican official has met with the International authorities or commented on the situation. It is expected to change when the International Boundary and Water Commission provides information regarding this matter and grave concern regarding the U.S. entry into Mexican soil by 20 meters, an act which is, according to the plaques on the obelisks, ‘a severe penalty’ of international law,”

Darfur the silence genocide.

The UN security council is being criticised for "shameful silence" over the crisis in Darfur, which is now in its sixth year. The denouncement comes after attacks in Sudan's Darfur region went overlooked by the security council. HRW wants a probe into the killings and penalties for those committing them.

"HRW said that in western Darfur 'hundreds of civilians' have been killed, tens of thousands have been displaced and provision of 'life-saving humanitarian assistance' has been prevented from reaching the worst affected areas by government attacks on villages since February 8. 'The council's inaction has given Sudan a green light to continue attacking civilian targets, flouting international law and security council resolutions' and obstructing the deployment of a UN-mandated peacekeeping force.

The conflict in Darfur has raged since 2003 when anti-government forces attempted to gain a greater regional share of power.

Fighting has claimed 200,000 lives and displaced 2.2 million people, according to UN estimates."