U.S. Contractor Bloom Pleads Guilty in Iraq Bribery, Fraud Case

[sabra]

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=a3HKG7w14aD0&refer=us

U.S. Contractor Bloom Pleads Guilty in Iraq Bribery, Fraud Case

April 18 (Bloomberg) -- Philip Bloom, a U.S. businessman, pleaded guilty to conspiracy, bribery and money laundering in connection with a bid-rigging probe of Iraq reconstruction contracts.

The Justice Department unsealed the plea agreement today in federal court in Washington. Bloom admitted paying a former comptroller for the disbanded Coalition Provisional Authority and other officials more than $2 million in money and gifts to win $8.6 million in contracts.

Bloom faces up to 40 years in prison and a $750,000 fine. Under the terms of the plea agreement, he also must pay $3.6 million in restitution and forfeit $3.6 million in assets to the U.S., the Justice Department said.

[NoAmericanTaliban]

1. Who says crime doens't pay. He is still ahead $ 650,00

& what about the guys he gave the bribes to.

[seafan]

2. Joining the ranks of Custer Battles.... drip, drip, drip.......

March 1, 2005


A U.S. military contractor in Iraq is at the center of a controversy over how American-forces disbursed and accounted for hundreds of millions of dollars in Iraq.

The firm, Custer Battles is being charged in a lawsuit of defrauding the Coalition Provisional Authority of tens of millions of dollars during work in Iraq, which included securing Baghdad International Airport.

Two former employees sued the company last year under the False Claims Act, seeking to recover damages on behalf of the US government. They allege that Custer Battles repeatedly billed the occupation authorities for nonexistent services or at grossly inflated prices. A few months after they filed the suit, the Justice Department declined to intervene on the whistle-blowers' behalf.

Because the case is the first to be unsealed involving the charges of fraud in the multibillion-dollar Iraqi reconstruction effort, it could set precedents.

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http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/03/01/1521200