A Houston hairdresser with a long rap sheet conned the feds into paying for his sex-change operation with Hurricane Katrina aid, it was revealed yesterday.
Michael James Green, 25, was charged with bilking the feds out of $36,000 meant for destitute hurricane victims. He claimed to have lived in 18 damaged addresses and used 18 different Social Security numbers, federal prosecutors said.
But Green wasn't using the money for food and shelter: He used it to pay for a sex-change operation, sources said.
Word of the taxpayer-subsidized sex-change surgery outraged lawmakers at a hearing yesterday - as a FEMA official tried to minimize the massive fraud charges totaling $1.4 billion.
"How could government pay for a sex-change operation?" asked Rep. Charles Dent (D-Pa.).
FEMA official Donna Dannels disputed the report's fraud claims, saying the exposed cases "represent a fraction of the overall assistance provided."
Rep. Christopher Shays (R-Conn.) replied, "The amount of fraud outlined in this report, I don't think it's refutable."
