NEW ORLEANS, LA - The Justice Department said Monday that federal prosecutors have filed fraud, theft and other charges against 212 people accused of scams related to Gulf Coast hurricanes. Forty people have pleaded guilty so far, the latest report by the Hurricane Katrina Fraud Task Force said.
In a statement released earlier today the DOJ said, "We are working with these 212 people, working with them very closely, and if they tell us how they were actually able to get money out of the bureaucratic quagmire that is the federal government's hurricane relief effort we are completely willing to drop the charges."