Blackwater Reaches Deal on U.S. Export Violations

[RamboLiberal]

Source: NY Times

The private security company formerly called Blackwater Worldwide, long plagued by accusations of impropriety, has reached an agreement with the State Department for the company to pay $42 million in fines for hundreds of violations of United States export control regulations.

The violations included illegal weapons exports to Afghanistan, making unauthorized proposals to train troops in south Sudan and providing sniper training for Taiwanese police officers, according to company and government officials familiar with the deal.

The settlement, which has not yet been publicly announced, follows lengthy talks between Blackwater, now called Xe Services, and the State Department that dealt with the violations as an administrative matter, allowing the firm to avoid criminal charges. A company spokeswoman confirmed Friday that a settlement had been reached. The State Department spokesman, Philip J. Crowley, said he could not immediately comment.

The settlement with the State Department does not resolve other legal troubles still facing Blackwater and its former executives and other personnel. Those include the indictments of five former executives, including Blackwater’s former president, on weapons and obstruction charges; a federal investigation into evidence that Blackwater officials sought to bribe Iraqi government officials; and the arrest of two former Blackwater guards on federal murder charges stemming from the killing of two Afghans last year.



Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/21/world/21blackwater.html?_r=1&hp

[cory777]

1. Troubled contractor agrees to pay fines

Source: Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The troubled security firm formerly known as Blackwater will pay $42 million in fines to settle thousands of violations of U.S. export control regulations, according to The New York Times.

The newspaper reported on its website Friday that the Moyock, N.C.-based company now known as Xe (zee) Services reached a settlement agreement with the State Department.

The alleged violations included providing sniper training for Taiwanese police officers, illegal weapons exports to Afghanistan and making unauthorized proposals to train troops in south Sudan, the newspaper said. The State Department requires government approval before the transfer of certain types of military technology or knowledge to other countries.

A company spokeswoman confirmed the deal to The Associated Press but did not immediately know the amount. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said he was unaware of the settlement and had no comment.

Read more: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Troubled-contractor-agrees-to-apf-1078404292.html?x=0&.v=4

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Activist News http://activistnews.blogspot.com

[Angry Dragon]

2. And they should be barred from

any future government contracts for 50 years

[AlbertCat]

3. to pay $42 million in fines for hundreds of violations of United States export control regulations.

And continue to break them.

[PSPS]

4. Why must the US Government "make deals" with criminals?

[readmoreoften]

5. Isn't "paying fines" just giving back a smidgeon of the cash we're giving them?

We're increasing the use of Blackwater as we speak with how many billions in contracts? This is a little kabuke-theaterish to me.

[rAVES]

6. Pity they aren't Brown, they be rightly labelled terrorists then...

[Heywood J]

7. "the State Department that dealt with the violations as an administrative matter,

allowing the firm to avoid criminal charges".

Must be nice to have the State Department help out like that. The sentence for an individual caught smuggling weapons in violation of export laws is fairly stiff - Prince and his buddies dodged a 25 year bullet.

[nc4bo]

9. I think some of our government agencies can be accused of sleeping with the enemy.

The relationships between those who oversee and those who need the overseeing is far to close.

Gonna put down my broad stroke brush and say "some" not "most".

[midnight]

8. Hundreds of violations. Why do I think that any other

business would be broken up and sold for creating such chaos.

[naaman fletcher]

10. yes...

I am familiar with these regulations. They are quite complicated and one can violate them fairly innocently, and if the government sees that (and your violation had to do with a friendly country as opposed to, say, Iran) then you can get off with a fine. However, hundreds of times? Anyone else would be totally screwed after a few violations.