Atty: Worker in Pa. bldg collapse misused machine

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — An attorney representing the contractor hired to demolish a Philadelphia building that collapsed onto a thrift store, killing six people, says his client did not instruct an excavator operator to use the machine for demolition that day.

Attorney Kenneth Edelin said in a statement that contractor Griffin Campbell hired excavator operator Sean Benschop because of his experience but Benschop was to use the machine to remove debris on June 3, the day the building collapsed.

Benschop faces numerous charges, including manslaughter. At least six survivors have filed lawsuits against Campbell and the building's owner, and a grand jury was being convened to investigate the collapse.

A handful of investigators emerged from Campbell's home Monday evening, carrying a box.

Via Yahoo News!

$513M in home buyer tax credits misused

t qualify as first-time home buyers. Other credits went to prison inmates, taxpayers younger than 18 and people who did not actually buy homes.

The popular credit provided up to $8,000 to first-time home buyers and up to $6,500 to qualified current owners who bought another home during parts of 2009 and 2010.

The IRS said it worked hard to enforce a complicated tax credit that provided more than $27 billion to almost 3.9 million taxpayers.

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