From: MPetrelis@aol.com Date: Sun, 9 Jul 2000 12:12:56 EDT Subject: AIDS Fraud Victim Testifies Before Congress on Tuesday For Immediate Release July 9, 2000 Contact: Wayne Turner P: (202) 547-9404 E: ActUpDc@aol.com I: www.actupdc.org AIDS FRAUD VICTIM TO TESTIFY BEFORE CONGRESS Washington, DC -- A leading AIDS activist who founded a group of patients surviving a $2.2 million embezzlement scandal at the San Juan AIDS Institute, has been invited to testify at a Congressional hearing on federal AIDS programs. Jose F. Colon, co-founder of Pacientes de SIDA Pro Politica Sana (AIDS Patients for Sane Policies), will appear before the House of Representatives Subcommittee on Health and Environment on Tuesday, July 11, at 10:00 am, in room 2123 Rayburn House Office building. The hearing will focus on the Ryan White CARE Act (H.R. 4807), a $1.6 billion dollar federal program designed to provide medical care and related services to low-income people living with HIV and AIDS. The CARE Act, now due for its second, five year reauthorization, has been marred by a growing number of funding abuses and scandals. In Puerto Rico, top elected officials have been implicated, including Governor Pedro Rosello, after investigations revealed more than $2.2 million in AIDS funds were diverted from patient care, and spent on luxury cars, maids, and political campaigns. Five administrators have been convicted, and seven more pleaded guilty in the ongoing criminal probe. "The San Juan AIDS Institute scandal is tragically not an isolated incident," comments Wayne Turner of the AIDS advocacy and protest group ACT UP/DC. "Funding abuses have long been the dirty little secret within the industry of AIDS service providers. Now it's up to Congress to clean house." AIDS activists have been demanding greater accountability from federal AIDS programs as reported abuses mount. The FBI is probing an AIDS clinic in Dallas after local auditors revealed tens of thousands of Ryan White funds were spent on shopping sprees to Neiman-Marcus, and calls to psychic phone lines. A bookkeeper pleaded guilty in Orlando Florida to embezzling $500,000 for trips to DisneyWorld. Los Angeles County auditors discovered millions in AIDS housing money, unspent and hidden in a back account. Mr. Colon will urge Congress to strengthen oversight, and include accountability measures in the Ryan White CARE Act such as random federal audits of AIDS services providers, increased patient participation in the planning process, and the review of inflated salaries for some AIDS administrators. "We must work to ensure that AIDS funding actually goes to help patients," Colon states from San Juan. His group, Pacientes de SIDA Pro Politica Sana, maintained court house vigils during the recent fraud trials in Puerto Rico, highlighting the victims who died as a result of the scandal, including Colon's partner of seventeen years. "What happened to us must never be repeated." For more information, or to arrange interviews with Mr. Colon, contact: ACT UP/DC at (202) 547-9404. And visit www.actupdc.org for background about AIDS fraud. In San Juan, the Pacientes de SIDA Pro Politica Sana can be contacted at (787) 293-1155. Their web address is www.geocities.com/aidsanepolicies. # # # ========================= Michael Petrelis Welcome to AIDS-STATISTICS www.AIDS-statistics.com 2215-R Market Street, #413 San Francisco, CA 94114