lily
10-27-2007, 04:33 AM
If they are found to be stealing, charge them with war profiteering. (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21495626/)
Army to examine Iraq contracts for fraud
Probe focuses on Army office in Kuwait that gave $2.8 billion in contracts
Updated: 2 hours, 55 minutes ago
WASHINGTON - A team of specially trained investigators will hunker down in
an Army office north of Detroit on Monday to begin poring over hundreds of
Iraq war contracts in search of rigged awards.
This team of 10 auditors, criminal investigators and acquisition experts are
starting with a sampling of the roughly 6,000 contracts worth $2.8 billion
issued by an Army office in Kuwait that service officials have identified as
a hub of corruption.
The office, located at Camp Arifjan, buys gear and supplies to support U.S.
troops as they move in and out of Iraq. The pace of that operation has
exploded since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003.
Based on what the team finds, the probe may expand and the number of Army
military and civilian employees accused of accepting bribes and kickbacks
could grow, U.S. officials told The Associated Press. Nearly two dozen have
been charged so far.
Signs of trouble include contracts continually awarded to vendors without
the usual competition and awards that were competed but went to the bidder
with the highest price rather than the lowest. A mismatch between the
original product to be purchased and what was actually delivered is another
red flag.
“Is there anything in there that might indicate to us that there might be
some potential fraudulent activity?” Jeffrey Parsons, director of
contracting at Army Materiel Command, said in an AP interview. “If there are
patterns that we start to identify, then we’re going to do further review.”
Contracts with significant problems will be forwarded to the Army Audit
Agency and the Army Criminal Investigation Command. If there’s credible
evidence of wrongdoing, the FBI and prosecutors from the U.S. Justice
Department are called in.
In Warren, Mich., home to a large Army acquisition center, the contracting
review team will examine 314 of the Kuwait contracts, each worth more than
$25,000 and issued between 2003 and 2006.
Another group also looks for corruption
In Kuwait, a separate team of 10 at Camp Arifjan is already going through
339 contracts of lesser value and awarded during the same time period,
according to Army Materiel Command at Fort Belvoir, Va.
Both reviews are to be finished before the end of the year.
A probe of 2007 contracts out of Kuwait has been completed; investigators
found numerous problems with the office, including inadequate staffing and
oversight, high staff turnover, and poor record-keeping.
In the midst of those shortcomings came billions of dollars in war funding,
creating an environment ripe for misconduct and malfeasance.
The teams in Michigan and Kuwait will go through paper records and also use
data-mining tools to electronically search data stored on computers.
“Do we have contractors with different names but the same address?” Parsons
said. “That would cause some suspicion.”
Tips from individuals familiar with the contracts are another tool for
finding flawed awards, he said.
On a side note.......I was a little surprised to see my city mentioned. I haven't seen anything about this in the local news. Go Warren........Go get 'em!
Army to examine Iraq contracts for fraud
Probe focuses on Army office in Kuwait that gave $2.8 billion in contracts
Updated: 2 hours, 55 minutes ago
WASHINGTON - A team of specially trained investigators will hunker down in
an Army office north of Detroit on Monday to begin poring over hundreds of
Iraq war contracts in search of rigged awards.
This team of 10 auditors, criminal investigators and acquisition experts are
starting with a sampling of the roughly 6,000 contracts worth $2.8 billion
issued by an Army office in Kuwait that service officials have identified as
a hub of corruption.
The office, located at Camp Arifjan, buys gear and supplies to support U.S.
troops as they move in and out of Iraq. The pace of that operation has
exploded since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003.
Based on what the team finds, the probe may expand and the number of Army
military and civilian employees accused of accepting bribes and kickbacks
could grow, U.S. officials told The Associated Press. Nearly two dozen have
been charged so far.
Signs of trouble include contracts continually awarded to vendors without
the usual competition and awards that were competed but went to the bidder
with the highest price rather than the lowest. A mismatch between the
original product to be purchased and what was actually delivered is another
red flag.
“Is there anything in there that might indicate to us that there might be
some potential fraudulent activity?” Jeffrey Parsons, director of
contracting at Army Materiel Command, said in an AP interview. “If there are
patterns that we start to identify, then we’re going to do further review.”
Contracts with significant problems will be forwarded to the Army Audit
Agency and the Army Criminal Investigation Command. If there’s credible
evidence of wrongdoing, the FBI and prosecutors from the U.S. Justice
Department are called in.
In Warren, Mich., home to a large Army acquisition center, the contracting
review team will examine 314 of the Kuwait contracts, each worth more than
$25,000 and issued between 2003 and 2006.
Another group also looks for corruption
In Kuwait, a separate team of 10 at Camp Arifjan is already going through
339 contracts of lesser value and awarded during the same time period,
according to Army Materiel Command at Fort Belvoir, Va.
Both reviews are to be finished before the end of the year.
A probe of 2007 contracts out of Kuwait has been completed; investigators
found numerous problems with the office, including inadequate staffing and
oversight, high staff turnover, and poor record-keeping.
In the midst of those shortcomings came billions of dollars in war funding,
creating an environment ripe for misconduct and malfeasance.
The teams in Michigan and Kuwait will go through paper records and also use
data-mining tools to electronically search data stored on computers.
“Do we have contractors with different names but the same address?” Parsons
said. “That would cause some suspicion.”
Tips from individuals familiar with the contracts are another tool for
finding flawed awards, he said.
On a side note.......I was a little surprised to see my city mentioned. I haven't seen anything about this in the local news. Go Warren........Go get 'em!