Phantom zip codes also found in Virginia
By: Barbara Hollingsworth
Local Opinion Editor
01/06/10 10:40 AM EST

As much as $9.5 million in federal stimulus dollars went to 14 zip codes in Virginia that don’t exist or are in other states, Old Dominion Watchdog (http://virginia.watchdog.org) reports. The fake zip codes were listed on Recovery.gov, the federal Web site that is supposed to track how the stimulus money is being used.

The phony zip codes are a new wrinkle in Recovery.gov’s increasingly tattered credibility. In November, Ed Pound, director of communications for the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board, said a rash of phantom congressional districts found on the website were the result of confusion by fund recipients, who apparently didn’t know who their congressman was.

But who would give millions of dollars to somebody who doesn’t even know their own zip code?

More fake zip codes here

UPDATE: Even with a real zip code, it takes seven hours for one firm to report back to Recovery.gov on its $2,000 stimulus contract.

--Beltway Confidential