9/11 Victim Exposed as Fraud

Jon Gold must be crushed by this news! My question is how could this guy have gotten approved for funding, i.e. how closely were claims scrutinized? Our tax dollars could be in the hands of untold numbers of some of the most degraded and depraved con artists ever to sully a latrine with their presence!

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2008/01/a_mercer_county_man_today.html

Mercer man admits largest ever 9/11 fund fraud
by Claire Heininger/The Star-Ledger Thursday January 31, 2008, 5:51 PM

A Mercer County man today admitted defrauding a Sept. 11 victims fund of more than $1 million by claiming he was permanently disabled in the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Mario Mastellone, a 41-year-old painter from East Windsor, pleaded guilty in federal court in Manhattan. The $1.07 million he received is the largest fraud ever perpetrated against the fund, prosecutors said today.

Mastellone ripped off the money from the U.S. Justice Department's September 11 Victim Compensation Fund, set up to compensate those injured in the attacks. He claimed the attacks left him unable to work, lying to a Department of Justice agent investigating his case and to a hearing officer evaluating his claim for compensation, prosecutors said.

He faces up to 10 years in prison when he is sentenced on May 16.