Pentagon Says Halliburton Must Repay if Overbilled

[Khephra]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon's chief financial officer said on Wednesday even if Vice President Dick Cheney's former firm Halliburton mistakenly overcharged for work in Iraq it would still have to repay the U.S. government.

Last week the Pentagon said a draft audit found Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg Brown and Root may have been overcharged $61 million by a Kuwaiti sub-contractor it chose to bring fuel into Iraq from Kuwait.

Halliburton, whose close ties to the White House are an embarrassment to the Bush administration just a year before a presidential election, strongly denies wrongdoing. Cheney was chief executive of Halliburton from 1995 to 2000.

Dov Zakheim, the Pentagon's comptroller, told reporters it did not look as if KBR had made a big profit out of the fuel deal but said the company would be held responsible for paying back any money it might have overcharged.

more.....................

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=politicsNews&storyID=4009414

[Cambist]

1. So If I Rob A Bank

and get caught, all I have to do is give the money back?

[htuttle]

3. Depends....

If you use a gun, No.

If you use a pen and a business suit, Yes, apparently.

ps. We put people in jail in this country for shoplifting food to eat. When a corporation is caught stealing MILLIONS, however, that's okay, although sometimes they have to pay a 'fine' that's a fraction of what they stole.

Corporations don't just have the rights of a person. They have MORE rights than a human person.

[pmbryant]

4. They probably won't even have to pay back the money

See the link in post #2.

Bush et al are probably going to let them off scot free.

:grr:

--Peter

[tom_paine]

7. Agreed

One Law for the Imperial Family; One law for the Serfs.

[phillybri]

6. Awesome point...

It also helps if the VP of the country is on your side...:grr:

[pmbryant]

2. Note the 'If'

Apparently late last week, Don Rumsfeld himself was trying to downplay the audit results and say there was no actual overbilling.

See http://counterspin.blogspot.com/2003_12_07_counterspin_archive.html#107133731235929735

--Peter

[BiggJawn]

5. Waht? THIS story AGAIN? Hey! they got Saddam!

Somebody at Reuters trying re-float this hulk? GOOD!
And Arschloch got fined for raising too much money in his LOSS to a DEAD MAN...

Meanwhile, over on FAUX and on EIB, in-depth analysis of what Saddam Hussein's farts smell like....

[LizW]

8. "Mistakenly" overcharged?

'Cause we would NEVER do it on purpose, ya know.

And it wasn't us (Halliburton), guys! It was some KUWAITI subcontractor's fault. You know, brown foreign people.

And Kellogg Brown and Root didn't make much profit from the deal, anyway. It was those foreigners that stole your $61M, so stop saying we did.

:puke:

[htuttle]

9. "How to make a million dollars, and not pay taxes"

Step 1: First, make a million dollars
Step 2: Don't pay your taxes. When the IRS comes to take you away, simply tell them, "I forgot. I forgot that I had to pay taxes."
(old Steve Martin routine...)

Halliburton: "I forgot it was illegal to steal from the government."