US Covers Contractor for Lost Money

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US Covers Contractor for Lost Money
October 22, 2008
Associated Press

WASHINGTON - Say you lost $185,481? Just expense it - Iraq style.

A U.S. contractor hired to teach Iraqis about good government lost that amount in cash, then claimed the loss as "an expense."

And the U.S. government not only covered the loss, but paid the contractor tens of thousands of dollars more in special fees for overhead and other costs relating to the missing money, according to a report by the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction.

"SIGIR questions this decision," said the report, released Oct. 21.

At issue is an admittedly small portion of money committed in a deal with the nonprofit Research Triangle Institute of North Carolina. The institute was awarded two contracts in 2003 and 2005 valued at $598 million to help Iraqis work on building local government and representative councils across the country's 18 provinces, said inspector general Stuart Bowen.


Rest of article at: http://www.military.com/news/article/us-covers-contractor-for-lost-money.html?col=1186032310810