Who is ripping you off? - turns out it is a rich and powerful Govt. contractor not the poor ($70M)

[underpants]

$69.3 million Afghan-contracting fine may be a record


WASHINGTON — A nearly $70 million fine announced Friday against one of the U.S. government's largest Afghanistan contractors is an apparent record war-zone settlement, and it grew from a classic David vs. Goliath confrontation.

New Jersey-based Louis Berger Group, which has overseen the construction of roads, power plants and schools across Afghanistan, acknowledged that It had knowingly and systematically overcharged the U.S. government and agreed to pay $69.3 million in criminal and civil penalties

Louis Berger's antagonist was Harold Salomon, a Haitian immigrant and former employee who resisted pressure to keep quiet. He said Friday that he planned to donate part of his whistleblower's award to a nonprofit he founded that provides health care and other services in Haiti.


The Morristown, N.J., firm agreed Friday to pay $46.5 million to settle the whistleblower case, $18.7 million in criminal fines and $4.1 million to settle other contractual disputes.

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/11/05/103300/693-million-afghan-contracting.html

[xchrom]

1. Recommend

[NNN0LHI]

2. Boy you know if they agreed to pay $69.3 million they got away with a lot more

Thats a gimme.

Don

[madokie]

3. And the stupid just sent us down that same road again

re-energized the pukes to where they may as well have the oval office the senate as well as the house cause nothing and I mean nothing will get done for the next two years unless of course Obama rolls over and if he does we're really fucked and I mean really fucked in a bad way.+

I'm right back where I was after the selection of the bush/cheney duo in '00

[underpants]

4. Yep

clearly

BTW I found this at the McClatchy news site. My new news source.

[The Uncola]

5. What REALLY sucks about this...

.. is that shit like this isn't the exception, it's the rule. In the meantime, we have people starving and living in the streets. Welcome to The Corporate States of America, leave your civil liberties at the door.

[BeFree]

6. Alright

That will put a few of the officers of the company in jail for a long time.

So, where is the news about them being put in jail? They must have just forgot to print it right?

[underpants]

7. Company said.....

A Louis Berger spokeswoman, Holly Fisher, said Friday that the settlement meant that the firm could continue to do contracting for the U.S. government in Afghanistan. "The agreement affirms LBG's ability to complete existing federal projects and compete for new contracts," Fisher said.


"LBG is a stronger company today as a result of this settlement as well as the company's corporate improvement program," company President Larry D. Walker said.

:wankers:

[BeFree]

14. No way!!

No one is going to jail? And they still stay employed by us?

LGB is stronger?
LGB needs to be destroyed, voted out of office, taken to the landfill, made into compost.

Instead, LGB gets to hang up a 'Hiring' sign overseas, using our money for those jobs?

What is Boehner gonna do about this clusterfuck?

[spooky3]

8. that's a good way to describe it - Dems. should use this in their messages

[underpants]

9. .

see my sig line

please :hi:

[spooky3]

11. great sig. line!

[spooky3]

10. self-delete; wrong place

[Lasher]

12. Berger could get up to 25%

That's $27.5 million.

[lonestarnot]

13. Every day I read or hear about another richie rich GOPer ripping off with our tax money.

Every day.

[OneGrassRoot]

15. K&R. Thank you. :) n/t