The Office of the Comptroller of Puerto Rico, as part of the Anti-Corruption Group, will be alert to the use of the federal funds the Island will receive following the passage of Hurricane Maria.
CyberNews
June 13, 2018
She warned that “whoever is going to do it should think it over. If they do it, we will be able to detect it and we will arrest them.”
San Juan – Federal prosecutor Rosa Emilia Rodriguez and the Secretary of the Department of Justice (DJ), Wanda Vazquez, assured on Wednesday that they have identified some cases of people who could improperly benefit from the federal funds allocated for Hurricane Maria recovery, as well as from Medicaid funds.
“We are united on that,” both officials affirmed in a radio interview (WKAQ).
Rodriguez warned that “whoever is going to do it should think it over. If they do it, we will be able to detect it and we will arrest them.”
“We already have some cases. As we always say, being in the crosshairs does not mean we are going to investigate. The important thing is that we are very watchful. We have seen that federal agencies now take much more precaution than FEMA itself. We are going to try. Unfortunately, a rat slips through any mesh. We are going to try,” she affirmed.
They indicated that the Anti-Corruption Task Force, made up of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Office of Government Ethics (OEG), the Office of the Comptroller, and the Independent Special Prosecutor's Panel (PFEI), have met on several occasions with the government's authorized representative, Omar Marrero, to address this matter.
“The anti-corruption group has come together and we are holding regular meetings with him and his aides precisely to verify which people are bidding, and how the disbursement of that money is being and will be handled. They have given us the opportunity to try to prevent, and we thank the governor because they have opened the doors to us in that regard,” said the federal prosecutor.
“It is a priority for the governor, since we have had the opportunity to receive that contribution, that responsibility be assigned to anyone who in some way takes or attempts to take advantage of these funds directed at the needs of the people who are waiting for them and who so eagerly need to rebuild, not only physically but also personally,” said Vazquez, for her part.
Likewise, Vazquez indicated that a Medicaid fraud prevention unit was created within the Department of Justice.
“We are going to go after all those providers who are taking advantage in the care centers for people who in some way receive Medicaid. Whoever intends to commit a crime or take advantage of the funds received from FEMA or Medicaid should face the consequences, because obviously we are going to investigate. We already have cases we are identifying and we are going to prosecute them, and if not at the federal level, it will be at the state level,” warned the head of Justice.
On Tuesday, the FBI's director on the island, Douglas Leff, announced on a radio station that there will soon be an operation to arrest contractors for alleged misuse of funds destined for the hurricane's damages. He said the arrests would occur “in the not-too-distant future.”
Some documents on this page are saved in PDF format.
To view these documents, you must have the following free program installed.
