9/11 Profiteering

[ny10570 745]

This article has literally made me sick. I'm aware of much of the financial ineptitude of the Port Authority and the many scams perpetrated in the name of 9/11 but to see it so clearly quantified was rough. Worst of all, these are all of the "legit" scams. People filing taxes and twisting truths. This doesn't even begin to address all bogus claims, fake charities, mountains of donated cash that evaporated without a trace.

http://www.villagevoice.com/2011-08-31/news/9-11-the-winners-profiting-from-september-eleventh/

[JBE 328]

Funny enough, it's all Giuliani is, a one trick pony. That's all he gets by on. I've never gone on any trips for free, gotten more than a couple of gifts of a shirt or hat here and there, and a DVD of the two documentaries I filmed. It makes me sad to see all these people doing stuff like this and bringing home a paycheck for it.

[ex-commish 490]

Funny enough, it's all Giuliani is, a one trick pony. That's all he gets by on. I've never gone on any trips for free, gotten more than a couple of gifts of a shirt or hat here and there, and a DVD of the two documentaries I filmed. It makes me sad to see all these people doing stuff like this and bringing home a paycheck for it.

It's one thing for a politician to grandstand for fame and fortune...that's what they do best...it's worse when it is one of our own.

[efdcapt115 1,511]

For the past ten years, a former volunteer firefighter named Vincent Forras has turned 9/11 into a high profile career that has taken him on overseas trips, gotten him photographed with mayors, governors, princes, and pro athletes, had him interviewed by national television personalities, has yielded a range of financial benefits, and an endorsement from none other than Don Imus for U.S. Senate.

Forras, now 54, of Ridgefield, Conn., certainly tells a compelling story. In an account he has told to dozens of reporters over the years, he claims that as a South Salem N.Y. volunteer firefighter, he rushed to Ground Zero on Sept. 11, 2001 and toiled there for weeks, leaving only once to celebrate his daughter's birthday. He claims he got trapped under the rubble for two hours and only a vision from God illuminated his escape, after he promised to devote his life to charity.

He goes on to say that he got sick from the air at the site almost immediately, and became desperately ill to the point where he could barely make it up the steps of his own house. He has many times been sought out by the media as a kind of spokesman for ailing responders.

The problem is that while Forras's general account remains somewhat consistent, the details seem to change from interview to interview, and among former associates, there's no small amount of skepticism about his claims.

"He was a phony," says Donald Hayde, a distinguished FDNY battalion chief with the elite Rescue battalion, "one of those guys who manipulate half-truths to put himself in a good light." In addition, several of his former colleagues at the South Salem fire house tell the Voice that they simply don't believe his story of being trapped.

Forras, however, is just one of a range of people, companies, charities, and agencies who have found ways to benefit from one of the nation's worst disasters.

The September 11, 2001 attacks have been a symbol of many things and many causes, but like the lavish, flag-draped rebuilding of the site, it has also been a vehicle for enrichment. From corporations to politicians to government officials to nonprofits to the security industry to publishers to the health industry (not to mention the incidents of outright fraud over the years), many people have found ways to profit from one of the nation's biggest disasters. 9/11 has created an economy all its own.

"The intersection of 9/11 and money is a busy intersection," says retired New York City firefighter Kenny Specht.

If anybody knows this "phony" or happens to recognize him walking down the street, give him a good trip, hopefully he'll land face first. P.O.S.

[bigrig77 95]

I posted it once and i will post it again. These guys are the real scum of the earth.