From The West Coast To Your BackYard,,, Yes This Is Lisbon Also!!!

Local government fraud
As American as apple pie

This is only one particularly extreme example, but this kind of fraud and theft takes place in practically every village, town, country, city and state in the US. The only reason this case became a criminal matter - the ONLY reason - was the Los Angeles Times chose to write a feature story about it. Otherwise it would have continued without end. Citizens were aware of the level of fraud, but just as they fail to do in practically every corner of the country, they failed to organize themselves into a force and fight it. The local news media? They claimed they "lacked the resources" to cover the story properly. If you want to be a criminal in the US, get involved in local government. It's the clearest, easiest, low risk path.