Contractor Bilked U.S. on Iraq Work, Federal Jury Rules

[spindrifter]

Two Army veterans and their company cheated the U.S. government on a contract to furnish Iraq with a new currency in 2003 and should pay more than $10 million in assorted damages, a federal jury in Alexandria ruled yesterday.

In the first civil fraud verdict arising from the war effort, the eight-member panel decided, after two days of deliberation, in favor of two former workers who claimed in a lawsuit that Custer Battles LLC created phony Cayman Island companies to overcharge the Coalition Provisional Authority that ran Iraq after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.

"This is a smashing victory for U.S. taxpayers and these whistle-blowers though the Bush administration did nothing to help," said Alan M. Grayson, the attorney for the plaintiffs, Robert Isakson and William Baldwin. Under the federal False Claims Act, citizens can sue on behalf of the government and the Justice Department can then decide whether to join the suit, which it did not in the Custer Battles case.

<snip>

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/09/AR2006030902150.html

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That third paragraph says it all. This is an administration that cares not a whit for the American taxpayer. It is only out to protect corporate interests--preferably those that feed their profits back into the pockets of the incumbent electeds.

[TheBaldyMan]

1. BBC Newsnight did a special report om Iraq's missing billions

in a special report that you can view via Newsnight's website to view the report approx:14 mins (Real Player/BBC AV player needed)

after watching this report, one thing I can't understand is why these crooks aren't facing criminal charges.