Political Pirates: Trump Administration Suspends Funding for ‘Minnesota of the Caribbean’

Posted by:

By Catherine Salgado

Nowadays, pirates of the Caribbean don’t fly the Jolly Roger, swing swords, and wear eye patches. They work in government offices and maintain jobs in the political bureaucracy.

The Virgin Islands Housing Finance Authority (VIHFA) is under scrutiny from Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Scott Turner over its alleged years of mismanaging taxpayer-funded aid. The apparent fraud and financial mismanagement are so bad that the Virgin Islands have earned the nickname “Minnesota of the Caribbean.” So the Trump administration is suspending funding for VIHFA until it discovers exactly where all the loot went.

The report first appeared on Fox News, but Turner also shared the story on X and confirmed the funding suspension.

Turner, who is on the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, told Fox, “The Trump administration is changing the game when it comes to who we entrust with taxpayer dollars. Organizations riddled with corruption, mismanagement, and crime will no longer be allowed to squander billions.” What a novel idea — trying to ensure the taxpayer money is not misspent or actively stolen.

Turner added, “[VIHFA] officials cannot be allowed to prioritize kickbacks over helping families recover from disasters. I promised that HUD would be a faithful steward of the American people’s hard-earned money, and we are keeping that promise." His deputy, Andrew Hughes, sent a 13-page letter to VIHFA official Dayna Clendinen with more details on why HUD enacted the funding suspension, and notifying Clendinen that her agency is not able to seek future federal procurement until the investigation is complete.

Fox News attempted to contact VIHFA by phone, but the representative who answered then sent the outlet to a full voicemail box. Fox could not obtain any comments by filling out an online form either. There was a similar lack of response from Del. Stacey Plaskett (D-V.I.) and Democrat Virgin Islands Gov. Albert Bryan.

In the letter, HUD claimed the nearly-$2 billion appropriation to VIHFA was intended for recovery after Hurricanes Irma and Maria devastated the American archipelago in 2017 – calculated to about $20,000 per USVI resident.

"Nine years later, because of VIHFA’s blatant mismanagement of these critical disaster funds, USVI citizens still do not have the housing and electrical power they were promised nearly a decade ago," the agency said, citing the prevalence of blue-tarped roofs and shoddy infrastructure including a teetering power grid in the time since.

HUD said audits found disaster recovery spending lagged badly while administrative spending consumed a disproportionate share of available funds. The agency also cited the former COO's criminal kickback scheme as evidence of weak internal controls … HUD informed VIHFA it has "substantial evidence" of failure-to-comply with aid obligations, a lack of internal controls over financial matters, fraud risks and conflict-of-interest situations.

Darin Richardson, the former VIHFA COO, is now serving several years in prison for money laundering, bank fraud, making false statements, and criminal conflict of interest. Richardson received a sizable chunk of money from a contractor related to an inflated contract, which resulted in large amounts of lumber rotting away untouched.

In short, the funding suspension is long overdue.

Original Here
Join the Conversation!
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
We have a wonderful, active, and engaged community. Come join us in the comments section below! You'll need a Hyvor account (100% free) if you don't already have one. 
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐