Fuel Fraud Latest In Army Contracting Woes

[babylonsister]

Fuel Fraud Latest In Army Contracting Woes
CBS News Exposes Kickback Scheme, As Epidemic Of Wartime Military Contract Fraud Grows


WASHINGTON, Nov. 1, 2007


(CBS/AP) The delivery of aviation gas to the giant U.S. air base at Bagram in Afghanistan is the latest case of fraud to hit a contracting system overwhelmed by war and practically begging to be ripped off, CBS News national security correspondent David Martin reports exclusively.

So far two former employees of Kellogg, Brown and Root have been arrested for their part in a scheme worthy of Tony Soprano.

The two KBR men, who worked for the U.S. military at Bagram, forged receipts for 80 tanker loads trucked in but never delivered, according to court documents. The Pentagon paid for the undelivered fuel while the drivers sold it on the black market. For their role in the scheme, KBR employees divvyed up an estimated $800,000 in kick backs, reports Martin.

That's just one of more than 80 criminal cases involving some $15 million in bribes. It is still a growing scandal which Pentagon officials expect will uncover hundreds of fraudulent contracts.

A new report by a blue ribbon panel is headlined, "Urgent Reform Required."

"It usually takes a crisis to make change," said Jacques Gansler, head of the panel. "We have a crisis."

more...

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/11/01/national/main3440529.shtml

[sam sarrha]

1. this is why Halliburton moved to the middle East, no extradition