FEMA’s Woke Disaster: $2 Billion Fraud, Reverse Discrimination, and Retaliation Buried for Six Years

For six years, FEMA has quietly buried one of the worst scandals in federal disaster response—a toxic mix of reverse discrimination, fraud, and whistleblower retaliation tied to the Hurricane Maria recovery in Puerto Rico. I led the contractor team that uncovered it firsthand.

In 2018, I deployed as the technical lead of a Lean Six Sigma team made up of straight, older, white veterans and executives.

Our mission was to bring order, transparency, and efficiency to a FEMA operation crippled by dysfunction. What we found was not just inefficiency—it was corruption: theft, favoritism, and rot embedded deep in FEMA’s culture.

We documented widespread violations of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and the Anti-Deficiency Act.

FEMA leadership stole contractor-developed intellectual property and inflated performance metrics in a $1.5 billion scheme to mislead Congress.

Unqualified personnel were promoted—not for merit, but for checking the right identity boxes. This was not mismanagement. It was deliberate.

FEMA’s culture was dominated by DEI politics—identity trumped merit, and promotions were rigged. One insider told us: “Straight white men are at the bottom here.” That was not just talk. It was policy.

At the heart of it was a tight-knit special interest group dubbed internally by FEMA insiders the “LGBTQ Mafia.”

They wielded outsized influence, shielded by management and FEMA’s Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) and FOIA offices, which buried complaints and blocked accountability.

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Red Flags in Letitia James Handling of Her Father’s Estate Demand Another Investigation

Letitia James, the New York State Attorney General, has presented herself as a champion of legal integrity.

Yet documents filed under oath in her late father’s estate proceedings in 1999 appear to present legal problems for James involving property law, mortgage representations, and taxation requirements.

Letitia James’ father, Robert James, died on January 15, 1986. Thirteen years later, in 1999, Letitia filed a petition in Queens Surrogate’s Court seeking to administer his estate.

The only asset was a small townhome at 114-04 Inwood Street in Jamaica, Queens, a property Letitia had purchased with her father as “husband and wife” in 1983.

In sworn estate documents, Letitia claimed that the property was held as “tenants in common,” a legal classification that would require the probate court to transfer her father’s share of the house to Letitia.

“The property would not pass to the heirs of the decedent by operation of law,” James wrote in her affirmation, “because the decedent held the property with the undersigned as tenants in common with no right of survivorship.”

That distinction was crucial: unlike “joint tenancy,” which passes ownership directly to a surviving party such as a spouse, “tenancy in common” requires probate court to transfer the deceased’s share.

However, James’s account is contradicted by the mortgage Letitia and her father obtained as “husband and wife” in May 1983.

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No One Is Above the Law: When Will Tom Homan and ICE Arrest and Deport Ilhan Omar for Marrying Her Brother and Committing Immigration Fraud?

According to her limited bio on the far-left Wikipedia, Ilhan Omar divorced her second husband, Ahmed Nur Said Elmi, in 2011.

Ilhan’s second husband, Ahmed Nur Said Elmi, is her brother.

The two were legally married on February 12, 2009, and divorced in 2011.

Democrat Ilhan Omar married her biological brother.

Power Line reported on this scandal years ago:

A reader has written us to point out that the Somali website Somalispot posted information last week suggesting Omar’s involvement in marriage and immigration fraud. The post notes that Omar married Ahmed Hirsi in 2002. Hirsi is the father of Omar’s three children. Omar is depicted with Hirsi and their children on Omar’s campaign website here.

The post further notes that Omar married her brother Ahmed Nur Said Elmi in 2009, implying that the latter marriage assisted his entry into the United States. Her brother was a British citizen. “As soon as Ilhan Omar married him,” the post continues, “He started university at her [a]lma mater North Dakota State University where he graduated in 2012. Shortly thereafter, he moved to Minneapolis where he was living in a public housing complex and was later evicted. He then returned to the United Kingdom where he now lives.”

Ilhan Omar was elected to be a state representative for District 60B on November 8, 2016, and took her oath on the Quran.

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REPORT: USAID Officer Charged With Pandemic Bailout Fraud

When USAID came under the microscope of DOGE, people on the left absolutely flipped out. They all acted like USAID was above reproach and that the world would come to an end if it wasn’t fully funded.

Not only did the world not end, but now we’re learning that a senior officer for the organization has been charged with bailout fraud from the pandemic.

We are probably going to see fraud like this uncovered for years to come.

The Daily Wire reports:

USAID Contracting Officer Charged With Pandemic Bailout Fraud

A USAID employee in charge of managing contracts for the agency created a fake company to fraudulently secure coronavirus benefits for himself, federal prosecutors said Friday.

“Yusuf Akoll worked as a Senior Procurement Contract Specialist at the U.S. Agency for International Development,” according to a previously unreported court document. “From at least in or around March 2021, and continuing through at least in or around August 2021, Akoll [made] materially false, fictitious, and fraudulent statements…that resulted in Akoll receiving two [Paycheck Protection Program] loans totaling approximately $16,666 that he was not entitled to receive.”

Prosecutors said that in November 2020, Akoll registered a company in Virginia called Naagode Consulting LLC, then applied for a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan under the coronavirus bailout package, claiming he worked at Naagode and the money was necessary to prevent job losses.

Only companies in operation in February 2020 were eligible, so he falsely said it was established in January 2020. To establish a loss of income, he said the company had $40,000 in income in 2019 when it actually had no income, prosecutors said.

Is anyone really shocked by this?

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Missing Heirs and Mental Illness: The Bizarre Case of Letitia James’s Father’s Estate

New York Attorney General Letitia James has long portrayed herself as a crusader for justice, particularly when it comes to holding powerful figures accountable for financial misconduct.

But a closer examination of the estate of her late father, Robert James, reveals a disturbing and ironic tale of legal manipulation, family dysfunction, and possible fraud – with Letitia James herself at the center.

In 1983, three years before Robert James’s death in 1986, Letitia James was just 24 years old and living at her family’s two-bedroom apartment in Brooklyn with seven siblings. She had not yet entered law school.

That’s when she and her father, Robert James, applied for a mortgage loan to purchase a small home at 114-04 Inwood Street in Queens as “husband and wife.”

According to federal law, misrepresenting one’s relationship on a loan application is a form of “false representation,” or mortgage fraud, a serious offense punishable by fines or imprisonment.

Though Robert James died in 1986, it wasn’t until 1999 that Letitia James filed for letters of administration over his estate. The Inwood Street house she purchased with her father was listed as the only asset.

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The Legal Risks Facing Letitia James: Mortgage Fraud, Campaign Violations, Nonprofit Misuse, and There’s More

President Trump declared in the Oval Office on Tuesday that New York Attorney General Letitia James was “a total crook” and said the Justice Department would “do what’s right” after receiving a criminal referral accusing her of mortgage fraud.

He added, “she’s a disaster for New York. She’s a horrible, horrible human being”.

New York Attorney General Letitia James has for years cultivated an image as a champion of ethics, transparency, and the rule of law.

However, my review of public records and court filings, which I have documented in The Gateway Pundit series “The Letitia Files”, reveals a range of troubling issues that could pose serious legal and ethical consequences for New York’s top law enforcement official.

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Social Security Launches New ID Technology to Prevent Fraud—Here’s What to Know

The Social Security Administration (SSA) has rolled out “enhanced technology” to detect suspicious activity in telephone claims or banking changes. The new technology will strengthen identification verification, preventing fraud.

The SSA had initially planned to roll out new identity proofing policies in March, but pushback from beneficiaries and advocates delayed it. The policies have gone through two changes so far. So, what are these ID proofing policy changes, and how will they affect you?

Fraudulent Phone Callers Stole Benefits

Previously, Social Security recipients could call the toll-free number to change their direct deposit bank information. But there’s a problem with using the phone. According to the SSA, approximately 40 percent of direct deposit fraud was due to someone calling the SSA to change banking information. And although SSA employees asked questions to verify identity, many thieves successfully stole people’s funds by diverting the benefits to other bank accounts or even Visa cards.

The SSA Office of the Inspector General (OIG) estimates that $33.5 million in benefits for 20,878 beneficiaries was misdirected from January 2013 to May 2018.

ID Proofing Policies Originally Delayed

On March 18, 2025, the SSA announced that beginning March 31, 2025, people would no longer be able to verify their identity over the phone. And if the beneficiary could not properly verify their identity through SSA’s “my Social Security” online service, they would need to visit a field office. According to the SSA, this new policy affected 73,229,000 people who received Social Security benefits.

Lee Dudek, acting commissioner of Social Security, said in a March 18 press release, “For far too long, the agency has used antiquated methods for proving identity. Social Security can better protect Americans while expediting service”.

But, there were complaints from recipients, congress, and advocates such as the AARP that there wasn’t an opportunity for the public to weigh in on the change.

On March 26, the SSA postponed the new ID proofing policy to April 14 to give a longer transitionary time. At that point, due to complaints, the policy was once more changed.

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North Korea-linked gang ‘stole’ billions from Americans through romance scams, online schemes

A Cambodia-based gang with ties to North Korea has “stolen” billions of dollars from Americans through romance scams and other cyber-heists since August 2021, federal officials said Thursday in announcing a crackdown on the malign network.

For years, the online marketplace Huione Group has helped North Korea and other transnational criminal gangs rip people off by sending texts or direct messages on social media platforms and sites to bilk them for fake investments or “pig butchering.”

The cons, which also take place on dating or professional networking sites, have gotten US retirees and others to invest in crypto or other virtual currencies — before eventually defrauding them.

Between August 2021 and January 2025, Huione raked in at least $4 billion in proceeds from the romance and investment racket, with affiliates helping facilitate payments (Huione Pay PLC), provide fiat currencies (Huione Crypto), and furnish an online marketplace with illicit goods and services (Haowang Guarantee).

The US Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) shared the findings of its investigation into the Huione’s scam network exclusively with The Post, tallying up $37 million that went toward North Korean cyber heists and another $336 million in the romance and investments grift.

Now, the Treasury is taking action by proposing a federal rule to sever the Cambodian firm’s access to the US financial system.

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Crypto Casino Founder Richard Kim Arrested After Gambling Away Investor Funds

Richard Kim, the founder of crypto casino Zero Edge, was arrested on Tuesday following allegations that he had gambled away investors’ funds.

According to an FBI complaint filed on Tuesday in the Southern District of New York, Kim “fraudulently induced investors to invest in Zero Edge, a cryptocurrency technology company he founded, and then misappropriated millions of dollars in those investors’ funds.”

The FBI said Kim lost “nearly all” of the $7 million he raised from investors and charged him with securities fraud and wire fraud. According to court records, Kim posted a secured bond of $250,000 and put up $100,000 in “cash or real property” to secure it.

CoinDesk was first to report on the Zero Edge incident in July of last year. In an interview at the time, Kim revealed to CoinDesk that he had gambled away more than $3.67 million of his investors’ funds through a series of high-risk leveraged crypto trades.

“The downfall began with a careless mistake — a phishing site that cost $80k,” Kim said in his own recollection of what went wrong, which he shared with CoinDesk in a written statement that he later published as a public apology. “This triggered my old demons, the need to ‘make it back’ to preserve my reputation.”

According to Kim, he “started down a negative spiral of leverage trading, raising more capital, and hiding the truth.”

After losing most of the $7 million he had raised for Zero Edge, Kim told CoinDesk he reported himself to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s public tip line.

“Part of my rationale in reaching out proactively to the SEC was to say, OK guys, I really f—d up. I lost this money. It was grossly negligent. But I didn’t intend to go run away with this money,” he told CoinDesk in an interview.

According to the FBI complaint, Kim’s previous accounts “misleadingly described where investors’ funds had gone, and why, and omitted to inform investors that certain funds had been transferred to Shuffle.com, the gambling website.”

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Letitia James Lawyered Up with Hunter Biden’s Defense Attorney After Trump Official Drops Bombshell Allegations of Mortgage Fraud — Admits to “Mistakenly” Claiming Virginia Home as Primary Residence

New York Attorney General Letitia James has hired Democrat defense attorney Abbe Lowell in a last-ditch effort to spin away serious fraud allegations tied to her real estate dealings.

Lowell, a partner at Winston & Strawn LLP, is known as a high-profile attorney for embattled political figures, having represented Democrats such as Hunter Biden, John Edwards, and even Bill Clinton during his impeachment trial.

According to the Times Union, he was reportedly hired by the Office of the New York State Attorney General, not personally by Letitia James, just days after Trump-appointed officials filed a formal criminal referral to the DOJ.

The referral, spearheaded by U.S. Federal Housing Director William Pulte, accuses James of participating in suspicious real estate and mortgage transactions stretching back decades.

The Gateway Pundit and the White Collar Fraud previously reported back in early March that James has been implicated in multiple instances of mortgage fraud, with the most damning claims centered on her Brooklyn and Virginia properties.

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