We’re not Fools “Jewels.” Sign the Petition Today!
Since our 8/30/23 post on the “Jewels Helping Hands” all-(taxpayer)-expenses-paid National Lampoon’s-like Vegas Vacation, over 1,600 people have read the news.
Suffice it to say that citizens are outraged that Julie “Jewels” Garcia and family members used taxpayer money to fund a “teambuilding” trip to “Sin City” shortly after receiving $12,500.00 in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) from a Betsy Wilkerson sponsored allocation of federal funds.
Julie Garcia, husband/treasurer & “Jewels Helping Hands” team building at Ceasar’s Palace.
“Jewels” Doubles Down on Vegas Vacation
In a social media post Julie “Jewels” Garcia responded to a concerned citizen with,
“Again I will school you on facts. Seems to happen often. I and my organization does not take city funding. We haven’t since 2019. Seems your sad info was wrong (laughing-so-hard-as-to-bring-tears emoji). (hysterical laughing emoji again). But we had fun and plan to do it again (emphasis added) Try harder lady your attempts are laughable.”
One person not laughing is Dan Fruchter, Deputy Criminal Chief and Assistant United States Attorney U.S. Department of Justice (based in Spokane, WA). AUSA Fruchter was quoted in a June 11, 2023 article, “The Great Grift: How billions in COVID-19 relief aid was stolen or wasted”. Fruchter is quoted,
“Here was this sort of endless pot of money that anyone could access,” said Dan Fruchter, chief of the fraud and white-collar crime unit at the U.S. Attorney’s office in the Eastern District of Washington. “Folks kind of fooled themselves into thinking that it was a socially acceptable thing to do, even though it wasn’t legal.”
SIGN THE PETITION asking “Jewels” to come clean and answer (as suggested by readers):
How did you pay for your Vegas Vacation specifically?
What “teambuilding” activities occurred during your 6-person, 4-day trip to the town that Bugsy Siegle built?
Will you immediately produce/post all receipts from the teambuilding trip for the public to review?
Why did you pick Las Vegas for your teambuilding trip?
How are the people who joined the party related to you and your “nonprofit agency”?
How much taxpayer money did you gamble in Vegas?
Do you declare your gambling winnings/losses on your taxes?
When exactly do you plan to “do it again?”