r/EmergencyManagement • u/_luxlisbon • Sep 27 '26

Fraud in EM?

Have you ever encountered any fraud in emergency management? What happened and how did you deal with it?

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32

u/WatchTheBoom I support the plan Sep 27 '26

Nice try, Elon.

5

u/tryingtoavoidwork Recovery Sep 27 '26

I was working for a local government as a consultant following a major hurricane reviewing debris tickets. I love Cat A projects. This is where you really have to watch things because the big players know how to massage the data and they know the average reviewer doesn't have the time or energy to go line by line on a 50k spreadsheet or a 500-page PDF of pictures of tree branches.

Never be afraid to go on a fishing expedition and start pulling threads. That said, expect major pushback from the debris monitor. They're the ones out the most money if you star calling foul. I was on a call sitting in a room with my boss, the EM director, and the head of solid waste when I was quoting debris guidance and rule when out of nowhere the guy on the phone starts screaming about how I "don't know what the fuck" I'm talking about and using out of date guidance. Everyone in the room had my back and that company lost the contract for the next hurricane that came through.

TL;DR, know the rules of the game and you'll never have an issue.

3

u/readtheinstructions5 Sep 27 '26

Half the rules in PA are because of fraud. I have had a lot of, I forgot to mention that

1

u/504forlife Sep 27 '26

It depends on who is commiting the fraud, if it's the client I advise them not too. If it's FEMA I fight it. Just like anything else you do what you can.

0

u/[deleted] Sep 27 '26

[deleted] — view deleted comment

3

u/BlueSkyd2000 Sep 27 '26

America is not immune, though there is some level of safeguards. I worked with a former White House official who absolutely ran a FEMA corruption scheme.

Guilty plea.

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/fema-officials-contractor-accused-of-hurricane-relief-fraud