9-11 Whistleblowers: "... The price is so high for telling the truth."

[Totally Committed]

AP Enterprise: 9/11 thefts not prosecuted

By MARGARET EBRAHIM and PAT MILTON, Associated Press Writers 2 hours, 5 minutes ago

NEW YORK - Once-secret documents obtained by The Associated Press show a disaster supply management company went unpunished for Sept. 11 thefts after the government discovered FBI agents and other government officials had stolen artifacts from New York's ground zero. Kieger Enterprises of Lino Lakes, Minn., dispatched trucks to a Long Island warehouse and loaded hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of donated bottled water, clothes, tools and generators to be moved to Minnesota in a plot to sell some for profit, according to government records and interviews.

Dan L'Allier said he witnessed 45 tons of the New York loot being unloaded in Minnesota at his company's headquarters. He and disaster specialist Chris Christopherson complained to a company executive, but were ordered to keep quiet. They persisted, going instead to the FBI. The two whistleblowers eventually lost their jobs, received death threats and were blackballed in the disaster relief industry. But they remained convinced their sacrifice was worth seeing justice done. They were wrong.

As a result, most Americans were kept in the dark about a major fraud involving their donated goods even as new requests for charity emerged with disasters like Hurricane Katrina. And Christopherson and L'Allier were left disillusioned. "I wouldn't open my mouth again for all the tea in China," L'Allier said. Added Christopherson, a 34-year-old father of two: "I paid a big price."

>snip<

For years, the two couldn't speak publicly because their whistleblower case remained under seal. They worried similar fraud might have occurred during Katrina. "If you donated, at your local supermarket, water or canned goods or cleaning supplies and a truck goes down there (to New Orleans), who knows where it is ending up," L'Allier.

Today, the whistleblowers worry their fate might chill others from exposing wrongdoing. "They felt they had to come forward about the theft because it was so wrong," Turner said. "I've lost my career. They've lost their jobs. The price is so high for telling the truth."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060616/ap_on_re_us/sept11_thefts

Ugh. Shameful!

TC

[unpossibles]

1. huh. I guess it is a different world now...

bizarro world.

[Mind_your_head]

2. Unbelievable (well, actually in light of 'today's world'

it is totally believable (unfortunately).

How can so many of these people be SOOOOOOO corrupt? It just boggles my mind....and those that cover for them too. Their momma's sure didn't teach 'em right from wrong. Don't they have conscience AT ALL????

Good on the whistleblowers, too bad they had such a horrific experience (and with no justice done). :cry:'g shame

K & R

[Totally Committed]

3. I know... I was horrified by this story! (n/t)

TC

[Jeffersons Ghost]

4. sometimes the rewards are high too... Noble Peace Prizes up for grabs...

heading into Nov. GET UM WHILE THEY'RE HOT!

[gratuitous]

5. Yes, the price of truth IS high under an outlaw regime

But where do you stand anyway? And what would you say to your children if you had just let it pass? Don't expect hallelujahs and congratulations for doing the right thing when lawlessness is the law of the land. Material success and security follow the wrong-doers at this time. The only "payoff" you can expect is the comfort of your conscience.

Nice of the court, though, to place the case under seal so that the felons could be protected until found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. No sense in having crooks deprived of their taste in the next scam while the prior scam is being adjudicated.

[Mind_your_head]

12. I wish I could kick your post up to the front.......

b/c you are so 'right on target' to say "the felons could be protected until found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. No sense in having crooks deprived of their taste in the next scam while the prior scam is being adjudicated."

Peace and mercy to you.....b'c this current 'environment' offers neither (there's no peace OR mercy)......YET, the 'moneyed' ppl still play along ~ at their peril. How come they don't see how they will be affected as well? ~ they're not immune.

[Bluerthanblue]

6. but the cost of silence

is even higher-
And, what good is 'living' when you are only occupying a body?- Do we want to settle for simply being alive? Can you 'live' with yourself? Humans can 'exhist' on life support for quite awhile, to what end?
My states motto is more appropriate than ever before- "Live free or Die"-

[Totally Committed]

7. kick for the afternoon crowd

:kick:

TC

[Mind_your_head]

8. Kick for the evening crowd? n/t

[dogday]

9. We have lost the world where the truth

gets rewarded, and the guilty punished, I am sorry to say....

[Mind_your_head]

11. Seems that way.....hope that 'decent people' will be able to

band together enough to reject that 'way'....

[Octafish]

10. It's against the law to tell the truth.

Bushworld is bizzare.

Word:

PSYCHO NAZI

[nickyt]

13. I can't deal with this. I just - I'm sending this to every appropriate

news outlet I can think of to send it.

Look at this:

"The government also didn't prosecute any of its employees for taking souvenirs, claiming it lacked a policy prohibiting such thefts."

Speechless here. I know "truth" is stranger than "fiction", but - who can comprehend this shit?

This needs to be BIG NEWS. Thanks for posting, Totally, and I'll do my part to help get this abominable story "out there".

[nickyt]

14. Hey wait. A Google reveals:

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
OFFICE OF THE U.S. ATTORNEY
DISTRICT OF MINNESOTA




PRESS RELEASE. Tuesday, November 1, 2005

St. Paul, MN - Kieger Enterprises (KEI), a former Lino Lakes disaster recovery and clean-up company, and Edward Kieger, Jr., former president and owner of KEI, were sentenced today in United States District Court for engaging in a fraud scheme to enrich themselves by taking advantage of funds available for disaster relief efforts, including those for the clean-up efforts related to the June 2000 flooding in Eagan, Minnesota, the June 2001 tornado in Siren, Wisconsin, and the September 11, 2001 attack on the World Trade Center.

Edward Kieger was sentenced to 42 months in prison and ordered to pay $1.2 million in restitution, jointly and severally with Kieger Enterprises and the other defendants. He pled guilty in April 2005 to racketeering conspiracy and obstruction of justice. Kieger Enterprises, which has gone out of business, represented by its chief executive officer Edward Kieger, was sentenced to one year probation and ordered to pay $1.2 million in restitution, jointly and severally with Edward Kieger and the other defendants. KEI pled guilty in April 2005 to wire fraud and obstruction of justice. Both were sentenced by Senior Judge Richard Kyle in St. Paul.

http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/mn/press/econ/econ0065.htm

[Imagevision]

15. received death threats? same ole same ole...!

[fooj]

16. kandr

[zulchzulu]

17. America CAN'T handle the REAL truth about what happened on 9/11/01

Mostly since Americans for the most part are sheepish dumbfucks too willing to believe what they see on the teevee (and are thus distracted into watching garbage), they would not be able to handle what actually happened, who actually did it and allowed it and the reason why they did such a treasonous act...

Call me a "far-left conspiracy theorist". I don't care...those that say that prove they are nothing more than Bush Apologists hellbent on ignoring the facts and the truth...Faith-based ignoramuses all...

Move along now...nothing to see here....