MacArthur Alleges FEMA’s Complicity with Insurance Companies
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A bold and surprising assertion about The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) from New Jersey's 3rd District (R) Congressman Tom MacArthur. The freshman representative, who's made his fortune in the insurance industry, alleges that FEMA wasn't a hapless government agency that stood idly by while observing the "big bad" insurance companies taking advantage of Superstorm Sandy victims. MacArthur alleges that FEMA was the beneficiary of the fraudulent practices.
"The reduced payments directly benefited FEMA's financial condition," said MacArthur. "... and so to just try to point fingers at these private companies that did it, I think is really an abrogation of responsibility. They need to own up to it and they need to fix it."
MacArthur's comments Tuesday, follows an earlier call by New Jersey U.S. Senator Robert Menendez (D) to ban the insurance companies named in the fraud from participating in the FEMA program altogether. (Previous Article referenced)
MacArthur isn't backing down from seeking the resignation of FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate. He said it has been an outrageous amount of time where people still haven't gotten the help they need and problems of all kinds continue to exist in FEMA.
"FEMA's own executive admits that FEMA had evidence of fraud and they didn't do anything about it for more than a year. That to me cries out for an investigation but there also has to be some accountability," said MacArthur.
MacArthur is also pushing for an investigation by House committees and is working on legislation aimed at putting safeguards in place, as stated in a previous report.
In a letter sent to Administrator Fugate Tuesday, New Jersey 6th District (D) Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. requested FEMA notify homeowners who have filed claims with the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). Pallone requested that FEMA establish a process that allows homeowners to easily file an appeal if they believe they have been a victim of an intentionally altered engineering report.
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