Puerto Ricans Accused of Misusing $8M in Funds
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — A mayor and two former government officials in Puerto Rico face public corruption charges in separate cases that involve a total of $8 million in federal and local funds, authorities said Thursday.
The suspects are the mayor of the southwest town of Sabana Grande and the former directors of finance for the northern town of Toa Baja, which has struggled to pay its employees amid an 11-year recession.
U.S. Attorney Rosa Emilia Rodriguez told reporters that the former officials from Toa Baja are accused of using nearly $5 million worth of federal funds to pay the town's public employees and municipal contractors.
Not only is that illegal, it's immoral," she said.
Officials said former finance director Victor Cruz Quintero deposited some $2.5 million worth of funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development into the town's general and payroll accounts in October 2014.
He also is accused of making similar deposits and transfers of more than $1.75 million in funds from HUD and the Department of Health and Human Services from September 2014 to February 2016.
Toa Baja's former interim finance director, Angle Roberto Santos Garcia, is accused of making similar transactions worth $650,000 using funds from those two federal agencies.
And that's just a drop in the bucket for Puerto Rico and it's Failures :
OR, an oldie but goody from 2017 :
https://nypost.com/2017/09/30/inept-puerto-rican-government-riddled-with-corruption-ceo/
‘ Inept’ Puerto Rican government ‘riddled with corruption’: CEO
Jorge Rodriguez, 49, is the Harvard-educated CEO of PACIV, an international engineering firm based in Puerto Rico that works with the medical and pharmaceutical sectors. The Puerto Rican-born engineer says he has dispatched 50 engineers to help FEMA rehabilitate the devastated island — a commonwealth of the United States — after Hurricane Maria. He refuses to work with the local government, which he called inept and riddled with corruption.
For the last 30 years, the Puerto Rican government has been completely inept at handling regular societal needs, so I just don’t see it functioning in a crisis like this one. Even before the hurricane hit, water and power systems were already broken. And our $118 billion debt crisis is a result of government corruption and mismanagement.
I’m really tired of Puerto Rican government officials blaming the federal government for their woes and for not acting fast enough to help people on the island. Last week I had three federal agents in my office and I was so embarrassed; I went out of my way to apologize to them for the attitude of my government and what they have been saying about the US response.
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It's funny listening to Puerto Rico's "Officials" (used loosely), complain about Trump and the administration.
Just another "Pass the buck" thing, to take the focus off their own Failings and Corruption.
Worst part is, the Liberal types here, actually think Puerto Rico is not at fault for anything that occurred on that island.
It was our fault the power grid in Puerto Rico was a piece of junk.
It was our fault they had no money to start with.
It's funny listening to Puerto Rico's "Officials" (used loosely), complain about Trump and the administration.
The Mayor of San Juan (not the Mayor charged with corruption) and the Governor complain … AND JUSTIFIABLY SO regarding Trump's dereliction and his bullshit photo op during which he tossed a crowd rolls of paper towels … A BANDAID ON A CANCER GRANDSTAND SHOW!
FYI: THE CORRUPTION TOOK PLACE IN YEARS PRIOR TO HURRICANE MARIA'S DEVASTATION OF PUERTO RICO!
IN YEARS BEFORE THE HURRICANE!
Just another "Pass the buck" thing, to take the focus off their own Failings and Corruption.
IN YEARS BEFORE THE HURRICANE!
The mayor facing fraud charges is Miguel Ortiz-Vélez of Sabana Grande. Federal authorities have accused him of running a three-year scheme, beginning in 2013 and ending in 2016, to defraud the government of $3 million. Ortiz-Vélez proposed projects to the Puerto Rico Department of Education, but intentionally overestimated their cost.
This scheme took place from 2014 until early 2016, long before Hurricane Maria in September 2017.
Worst part is, the Liberal types here, actually think Puerto Rico is not at fault for anything that occurred on that island.
I'm one of the "liberal types" here … and I contend, when a disaster hits AMERICAN CITIZENS (which Puerto Ricans happen to be), the POTUS is legally, ethically and morally charged, not to judge, equivocate, and lie, rather, to do what is necessary to mitigate and assist.
It was our fault the power grid in Puerto Rico was a piece of junk.
ANOTHER FUCKING TRUMP LIE!
— Donald Trump on Tuesday, September 11th, 2018 in press conference
By Manuela Tobias on Thursday, September 13th, 2018 at 11:09 a.m.
It was our fault they had no money to start with.
Let's talk about what a civilized nation does when there is manifest human suffering … rather than dollars and cents and the self-praising bullshit of an incompetent fraud …
__________________________________
I consider you a friend, It Is ME, and hope to meet at Walt Disney World one day and maybe do some fishing … but we are light years apart on this one.
Fixing Puerto Rico wouldn't just be a matter of "rebuilding" here and there. Much of what was destroyed wasn't properly built or maintained in the first place. PR is a poor island and pretty much always has been. I believe it would be weird if thousands people hadn't died there after being hit by not one, but two hurricanes.
Places like New Orleans after Katrina or parts of New York after Sandy are still not recovered from their storms and those are (compared to PR) wealthy places on the mainland with easy access to recovery and rebuilding services. Plus the people can easily migrate somewhere else (and have).
Saving lives on PR and rebuilding it afterward would be a monumental, time-consuming, and extremely expensive undertaking no matter who was president. There is no magic level of will or commitment that someone else could have brought to bear that would have changed the outcome. You can't just wave a wand on an island like PR and produce clean water, sewage, or power plants.
The president should not be making PR's tragedy political, but neither should any of his critics.
Making it all the more stupid to blame Trump for the death and destruction wrought by hurricanes. But this is what the Left does. They did with Bush and Katrina and they're doing it again with Trump and Puerto Rico. Now, they even think Trump causes hurricanes .
The problem, Tacos... is that Bush didn't do well with Katrina, and Trump didn't do well with Puerto Rico.
You can turn that in any direction you wish, but facts are stubborn.
Here is a fact the left will never deal with. Neither Bush nor Trump caused the conditions in New Orleans or Puerto Rico that allowed the Hurricanes to be so devastating. They are not the ones that misappropriated funds for decades. They are not the ones that allowed generational graft and corruption to take hold at the local levels. Nor are they the ones that blew the response at the local level at the time of the hurricanes.
We are doing a great job of throwing good money after bad on Puerto Rico. Money and the amount of aid we are sending are not the issue; at some point they really need to learn to help themselves.
Bush was first attacked for flying over the devastation. For flying over it! Apparently he should have been swimming in the flood waters as the hurricane was happening. Apparently he should have used his magic President Powers to rescue people himself.
The truth is the criticism of Bush over Katrina was fueled by a partisan news media who couldn't wait to portray him as "uncaring" and "out of touch." It's what they do with every Republican president (or candidate for that matter). Almost every criticism of him spun out of that incessant partisan need to attack his character.
The fact is Bush approved aid of over $10 Billion in the first week and sent thousand of federal workers and active military to help. Sometimes you just get a really big storm and bad circumstances and it's going to suck no matter who is president.