2014/01/08

NEW YORK — In a breaking scandal that is causing outrage across the nation, over 70 police officers have now been caught for fraudulently profiting off of the 9/11 tragedy — stealing money that belonged to 9/11 victims.

Many of the officers were known as “heroes.”

It has now been discovered that they were lying about their “injuries” in order to get large sums of cash.

Several were seen partying and living in luxury, at the expense of real 9/11 victims.

The officers illegally took funds that were reserved for suffering 9/11 first responders, according to Daily Mail.

The officers created fake forms saying that they had “PTSD” or “depression” and other debilitating conditions in order to rake in the profits.

The claims on their forms were shown to be false, after a District Attorney in Manhattan devoted over two years to investigating them.

Many of the officers stole massive amounts of money — between $400,000 to $500,000 in some cases.

To be eligible for the cash, officers had to be retired because of their “depression” and other disorders.

But many of them still took up other jobs, from helicopter pilots to martial arts teachers, in order to rake in even more money.

“For years, federal taxpayers have unwittingly financed the lifestyles of the defendants charged today,” says Cy Vance, an attorney working on the case.

“Many participants cynically manufactured claims of mental illness as a result of September 11th, dishonoring the first responders who did serve their City at the expense of their own health and safety,” he continued.

“The brazenness is shocking,”

Many of the photos that investigators found on officers’ Facebook accounts directly proved that their reports were deceitful.

One officer, for example, creatively claimed on his report that he was incapable of being around crowds due to a phobia caused by 9/11, according to local reports.

Investigators then found him having a great time with crowds and selling cream puff cakes at a gathering in New York.

There may have also been lawyers and doctors involved in the scam.

It is believed that the lawyers and doctors knew how to invent paperwork to steal the taxpayer money that was reserved for real victims, and they may have advised the officers on how to lie in their reports, according to reports.

The advice was so specific that they helped the deceitful officers find out which keywords to use in order to make their claims seem legitimate, according to reports.

For example, they may have been told to say: “I nap on and off during the day.”

Another instruction described in court documents was put as follows: “They’re liable to say… spell the word “world,” so you go “W-R-L-D.” Then they’re gonna say “Spell it backwards.” You think about it, and you can’t spell it backwards.”



Police commissioner William Bratton released a statement about the scam, saying that the former officers indicted in the case “have disgraced all first responders who perished during the search and rescue efforts on September 11, 2001, and those who subsequently died from 9/11 related illness, by exploiting their involvements that tragic day for personal gain.”