There’s little question that federal, state and city officials all were lax, careless or guilty of poor – and maybe illegal – performances in matters related to Hurricane Katrina.

In recent days, various reports cite huge cases of fraud, involving perhaps hundreds of millions of dollars aimed at relief efforts. These reports indicate Federal Emergency Management Agency officials did not perform routine checks to make sure those seeking financial assistance were, indeed, legitimate candidates for the aid.

“It was a mess. It was a system that was wide open for fraud,” said Gregory Kutz, who led the investigation for the Government Accountability Office. “All you had to do was call FEMA on the telephone and lie and you could get money,” he said. “It was just a question of how many people were willing to make false statements.”

The GAO report outlined many different kinds of fraud, such as individuals seeking aid using Social Security numbers of dead people. Others used Social Security numbers that had never been issued, and tens of thousands of people sought aid using names, birth dates and Social Security numbers that did not match.

It is likely the total amount of money and assistance obtained by fraudulent means never will be known, but it is huge.

FEMA officials and the White House are the main targets of those who are loudly criticizing the preparation and response to the hurricane damage. Lesser criticism is focused on the Louisiana governor and the mayor of New Orleans. Much of the fault-finding is based on the political leanings of those doing the criticizing or calling for some kind of government or legal action.

It’s interesting to note that little, if anything, is said about the individuals who lied, deceived and cheated to get money they did not deserve or perhaps got far more money than they were entitled to.

Apparently, in the eyes of FEMA and White House critics, the government was wrong and ill-prepared and performed poorly, but nothing was wrong with the people in the affected area who ripped off the government, and the public, for millions and millions of dollars.

Isn’t it strange there is so little criticism of the fraudulent and criminal action of thousands of those living in the areas devastated by Katrina while headlines and TV talking heads continue to pound away at FEMA and White House officials?