7-23-08, 8:33 pm

Washington, Jul 23 (Prensa Latina) A dozen anti-Cuban organizations are under investigation in the United States for fraudulent operations with US taxpayer funds allocated by the Bush administration to subvert order in the island.

According to the Washington Post, audits have been ordered in the wake of irregularities and diversion of funds detected in some of these groups, involving over $500,000.

Recent cases include the Washington-based Center for a Free Cuba (CFC) and the Miami-based Democracy Support Group (GAD).

Former CFC member Felipe Sixto, who also served as a White House official, used more than $500,000 for purposes other than planned, the paper recalls.

He quit his post in the current administration on March 20, after the scandal became public.

According to the Post, the GAD used nearly $11,000 of these federal funds to buy personal items. These frauds led US Congress to freeze the $45 million allocated by Bush to support the subversive program against Cuba in 2008, though it released them on Tuesday.

Audits are being carried out by the Justice Department and the United States Agency for International Development, which is the entity in charge of channeling the mentioned budget.

Cuban authorities have repeatedly denounced White House maneuvers to subvert political, social and economic order in the Island.

In late May, the Cuban Foreign Ministry presented evidence of US Interest Section diplomats' involvement in supplying money for destabilizing efforts.

From Prensa Latina