As mentioned, Christine LaSala and the WTC Captive Insurance Company have done a disgraceful job at managing the $1 billion that was designated to help ill rescue workers and those who helped clean up the WTC site. Out of that money, nearly $27.3 million has been spent by Christine LaSala since 2004 to pay for outside lawyers to help WTC Captive Insurance Co. fight the cases being presented by the rescue workers. So the money of New York taxpayers, who thought they were helping their fellow citizens, has been used by Christine LaSala to fight those WTC rescue workers who risked a lifetime of good health to help the city recover after 9/11.

As a New Yorker this is quite upsetting to me since I saw firsthand, the devastation of this tragedy and I expected both the state and the WTC Captive Insurance Company to do better for the WTC rescue workers. But that hasn’t happened and despite the words of a few elected officials such as Chuck Schumer, Christine LaSala remains in power to manage the WTC Captive Insurance Fund and fight against the interests of those who care about this city and its residents as opposed to making a profit. This fraud that has been perpetrated against this city has also gone largely unreported by the media even though we keep hearing about how poorly the health of the WTC rescue workers is. But judging by the money that the WTC Insurance Fund has to work with and how much Christine LaSala herself is being paid, it’s tragic to think how much good isn’t being done for our neighbors. It has been reported that the WTC Captive Insurance Fund may not start paying claims of the injured and dying WTC rescue workers until 2015 because they are fighting each of these cases, all the while Christine LaSala is making $350,000 per year and the WTC Insurance Fund is spending sometimes upwards of $20M per year on lawyers to fight these cases.

In some cases, the state is paying disability for these injured WTC rescue workers, but so much taxpayer money has been wasted by Christine LaSala since 2004 and during that time she’s made over $1M and the WTC Captive Insurance Fund has been completely inefficient. What can be done about LaSala and the WTC Rescue Workers Fund? I am hoping to draw attention to this problem and cast a spotlight on Christine LaSala and the WTC Captive Insurance Fund and hopefully get enough citizens angry enough that the government takes action. It is a slow fight, but I think if the average New Yorker knew the fraud that was going on with their tax dollars they would call for Christine LaSala to be fired and the WTC Captive Insurance Fund to be turned over to a company that is more interested in the health of its citizens than lining their pocketbooks.