When the US belatedly realised that it would have to rebuild Iraq, after the 2003 invasion, it came up with a plan to transport billions of Dollars in cash via Hercules cargo planes (each plane could carry around $2.4BN).
Many years, audits and investigations later the US Defence Department cannot account for what happened to around $6.6BN of that cash.
This remarkable admission of fiscal incompetence comes at a time when the US (primarily thanks to the wars in the Middle East) is broke.
The Los Angeles Times reports that for the first time federal auditors are suggesting that some/all of the cash may have been stolen. Given that cash (as opposed to credit or capital equipment) was used in such huge quantities, it is hardly surprising that it was stolen.
Quite why the US thought that cash (as opposed to credit or capital equipment) was the best way to rebuild a war torn country in the Middle East beggars belief.
Iraq is none to happy with the situation and Iraqi officials are threatening to go to court to reclaim the money, which came from Iraqi oil sales, seized Iraqi assets and surplus funds from the UN's oil-for-food program.
Given that the US is now broke, and in danger of defaulting on its debt, it will be interesting to see if that claim succeeds.
Showing posts with label fraud. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fraud. Show all posts
Monday, June 13, 2011
Friday, February 25, 2011
Criminal Behaviour and Blatant Corruption
The Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction report to Congress has found that corruption and waste has cost the US taxpayer an estimated $12BN wrt reconstruction monies "invested" in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The report found that "criminal behaviour and blatant corruption" were responsible for much of the waste related to the nearly $200BN spent since 2002 on US reconstruction and other projects in the two countries.
The report found that "criminal behaviour and blatant corruption" were responsible for much of the waste related to the nearly $200BN spent since 2002 on US reconstruction and other projects in the two countries.
Monday, January 25, 2010
The Unmagic Wand
Iraqi authorities are more than a little "peeved" at finding out that they may well have been sold a British sourced bomb detector that in fact doesn't detect bombs.
The Iraqi government has formed a commission to investigate the ADE651, known as the "magic wand".
Iraq has spent $85M on the "magic wand".
Britain banned the export of the device (manufactured by the British-based ATSC Company) last week, after tests showed that it was not suitable for bomb detection.
The British police also arrested ATSC Director Jim McCormick, on suspicion of fraud by misrepresentation.
The Iraqi government has formed a commission to investigate the ADE651, known as the "magic wand".
Iraq has spent $85M on the "magic wand".
Britain banned the export of the device (manufactured by the British-based ATSC Company) last week, after tests showed that it was not suitable for bomb detection.
The British police also arrested ATSC Director Jim McCormick, on suspicion of fraud by misrepresentation.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Audit Suspended
The State Department has had to publicly humiliate itself, by admitting that it does not know what it received for a billion dollar contract with security firm DynCorp International to provide training services for Iraqi police.
The Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR) has had to suspend its audit of the DynCorp contract, after administration officials admitted that they had no confidence in their own accounting records.
The list of problems are very familiar to auditors who have worked with companies in total disarray. Duplicate invoices, payments for equipment (eg a $1.8M scanner) that was never used and expense payments ($387K for hotels) that were unnecessary.
Needless to say, all of the above issues are red lights to professional accountants and auditors as they indicate the very real possibility of fraud.
The agency responsible for the contract was the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL). SIGIR castigates them, and is quoted by Reuters:
"INL does not know specifically what it received for most of the $1.2 billion in expenditures under its DynCorp contract for the Iraqi Police Training Program. INL's prior lack of controls created an environment vulnerable to waste and fraud."
Although the audit may well resume in January 2008, it is expected that it will take up to five years to complete it. Needless to say by that time the people responsible for this mess, ie the Bush administration, will have long since left office.
Mission accomplished!
The Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR) has had to suspend its audit of the DynCorp contract, after administration officials admitted that they had no confidence in their own accounting records.
The list of problems are very familiar to auditors who have worked with companies in total disarray. Duplicate invoices, payments for equipment (eg a $1.8M scanner) that was never used and expense payments ($387K for hotels) that were unnecessary.
Needless to say, all of the above issues are red lights to professional accountants and auditors as they indicate the very real possibility of fraud.
The agency responsible for the contract was the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL). SIGIR castigates them, and is quoted by Reuters:
"INL does not know specifically what it received for most of the $1.2 billion in expenditures under its DynCorp contract for the Iraqi Police Training Program. INL's prior lack of controls created an environment vulnerable to waste and fraud."
Although the audit may well resume in January 2008, it is expected that it will take up to five years to complete it. Needless to say by that time the people responsible for this mess, ie the Bush administration, will have long since left office.
Mission accomplished!
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
Iraq Reconsturction Fails
A US federal audit report has condemned the US attempts to reconstruct Iraq as being a total failure.
The reconstruction is so blighted by local corruption and insurgency violence, that most buildings fall into disrepair within six months of being completed.
The 210 page report was prepared by the American Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (Sigir). It concludes that fraud and corruption are so widespread within Iraqi departments, that the Iraqi annual financial loss now exceeds $7BN.
When buildings are completed, they are not being "adequately maintained". Repairmen and workers face intimidation and death threats, making their task all but impossible.
The report noted that at Baghdad Airport the vast majority of electricity generators were not working. At a maternity hospital in Irbil hypodermic needles, bandages and other medical wastes were found to have been thrown in the sewer system's traps and septic tank.
The US Government is trying to lay the blame on Iraqi incompetence, and notes that it could not "micro-manage" how American-funded facilities are run on the ground.
Sigir's last report, in January, said that reconstruction cash was being stolen by corrupt Iraqi officials and often disappearing without proper accounting in a "Wild West" atmosphere.
The State Department report on global terrorism noted that 46% of all terrorism attacks around the world took place in Iraq alone in 2006.
Therefore when President Bush claimed "mission accomplished", some time ago, what exactly was he talking about?
How has the invasion of Iraq made the world a safer place?
The reconstruction is so blighted by local corruption and insurgency violence, that most buildings fall into disrepair within six months of being completed.
The 210 page report was prepared by the American Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (Sigir). It concludes that fraud and corruption are so widespread within Iraqi departments, that the Iraqi annual financial loss now exceeds $7BN.
When buildings are completed, they are not being "adequately maintained". Repairmen and workers face intimidation and death threats, making their task all but impossible.
The report noted that at Baghdad Airport the vast majority of electricity generators were not working. At a maternity hospital in Irbil hypodermic needles, bandages and other medical wastes were found to have been thrown in the sewer system's traps and septic tank.
The US Government is trying to lay the blame on Iraqi incompetence, and notes that it could not "micro-manage" how American-funded facilities are run on the ground.
Sigir's last report, in January, said that reconstruction cash was being stolen by corrupt Iraqi officials and often disappearing without proper accounting in a "Wild West" atmosphere.
The State Department report on global terrorism noted that 46% of all terrorism attacks around the world took place in Iraq alone in 2006.
Therefore when President Bush claimed "mission accomplished", some time ago, what exactly was he talking about?
How has the invasion of Iraq made the world a safer place?
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Pentagon's Lies Exposed
When a country or political regime is losing a war, it searches desperately for stories that will encourage and embolden the "home front".
Usually, the more desperate the regime is to save its sorry reputation, the more embellished the stories become.
Under the full glare of a congressional committee, the lies told by the Pentagon (with the tacit approval of the Whitehouse) regarding the "heroism" of two of its service personnel have been exposed.
The brother of the late Cpl Pat Tillman, and Pte Jessica Lynch herself both appeared before the committee and debunked the stories propagated by the Pentagon about the heroism of Pte Lynch and Cpl Tillman.
Miss Lynch, who was injured near Nasiriyah in the 2003 invasion, said:
"I am still confused why they chose to lie and make me a legend."
Kevin Tillman, brother of Cpl Tillman, said that the deception "crossed the legal definition of fraud".
When a country and a "regime" deceives its own people in this way, the war is most assuredly lost and the grip on power of that "regime" failing fast.
Usually, the more desperate the regime is to save its sorry reputation, the more embellished the stories become.
Under the full glare of a congressional committee, the lies told by the Pentagon (with the tacit approval of the Whitehouse) regarding the "heroism" of two of its service personnel have been exposed.
The brother of the late Cpl Pat Tillman, and Pte Jessica Lynch herself both appeared before the committee and debunked the stories propagated by the Pentagon about the heroism of Pte Lynch and Cpl Tillman.
Miss Lynch, who was injured near Nasiriyah in the 2003 invasion, said:
"I am still confused why they chose to lie and make me a legend."
Kevin Tillman, brother of Cpl Tillman, said that the deception "crossed the legal definition of fraud".
When a country and a "regime" deceives its own people in this way, the war is most assuredly lost and the grip on power of that "regime" failing fast.
Thursday, February 15, 2007
British Firms Investigated
The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) is investigating a number of British companies, over allegations that they paid bribes to Saddam Hussein to win lucrative contracts.
The investigation will look at possible breaches of the oil-for-food sanctions.
The UN has issued a report which lists over 2,200 companies, worldwide, that may have been linked to bribery to Iraq.
The British firms listed in the report by Paul Volcker, submitted two years ago, include GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca. They have all denied the accusations.
The SFO spokesman said:
"The SFO has now opened a formal investigation into issues relating to the breaches of the embargo (against Iraq).
All this springs out of the Volcker report and other information that came to us last year. The director of the SFO has now signed us up to conduct a full investigation."
AstraZeneca state:
"We deny any allegation of unethical behaviour on our part in our trading relationships with Iraq,” a spokesman said.
AstraZeneca sent a consignment of medicines originally requested by the Hussein government under the United Nations Oil for Food Programme.
Most of the consignment was delivered after the coalition forces of the US and UK had taken control of the country.
The consignment was sent with all relevant United Nations permissions and UK Government Department of Trade and Industry export licences in place."
A GlaxoSmithKline spokesman said:
"GSK denies any wrongdoing. The UN Oil for Food programme was run in the UK by the Department of Trade and Industry and GSK operated entirely within DTI guidance in this area.
Indeed, GSK had a regular dialogue with officials at the DTI in order to ensure that all its dealings under the Oil for Food programme were transparent and in accordance with the regulations."
The investigation will take years and cost millions.
The investigation will look at possible breaches of the oil-for-food sanctions.
The UN has issued a report which lists over 2,200 companies, worldwide, that may have been linked to bribery to Iraq.
The British firms listed in the report by Paul Volcker, submitted two years ago, include GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca. They have all denied the accusations.
The SFO spokesman said:
"The SFO has now opened a formal investigation into issues relating to the breaches of the embargo (against Iraq).
All this springs out of the Volcker report and other information that came to us last year. The director of the SFO has now signed us up to conduct a full investigation."
AstraZeneca state:
"We deny any allegation of unethical behaviour on our part in our trading relationships with Iraq,” a spokesman said.
AstraZeneca sent a consignment of medicines originally requested by the Hussein government under the United Nations Oil for Food Programme.
Most of the consignment was delivered after the coalition forces of the US and UK had taken control of the country.
The consignment was sent with all relevant United Nations permissions and UK Government Department of Trade and Industry export licences in place."
A GlaxoSmithKline spokesman said:
"GSK denies any wrongdoing. The UN Oil for Food programme was run in the UK by the Department of Trade and Industry and GSK operated entirely within DTI guidance in this area.
Indeed, GSK had a regular dialogue with officials at the DTI in order to ensure that all its dealings under the Oil for Food programme were transparent and in accordance with the regulations."
The investigation will take years and cost millions.
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
Iraq Watchdog To Close Down
The Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, a federal agency serving the American public as a watchdog for fraud, waste, and abuse of funds intended for Iraq reconstruction programs, will close in 2007.
The watchdog has exposed corrupt practices within the Bush administration, and cynics claim that its closure is due to its findings of fraud and corruption which make uncomfortable reading for supporters of Bush's failed Iraq venture.
The audit office began operations in March 2004.
Currently, SIGIR has 82 open preliminary and criminal investigations. Twenty–five of those cases are currently at the Department of Justice (DoJ), and many are in the final stages of prosecution. Two cases have resulted in convictions and are currently pending sentence.
The watchdog has exposed corrupt practices within the Bush administration, and cynics claim that its closure is due to its findings of fraud and corruption which make uncomfortable reading for supporters of Bush's failed Iraq venture.
The audit office began operations in March 2004.
Currently, SIGIR has 82 open preliminary and criminal investigations. Twenty–five of those cases are currently at the Department of Justice (DoJ), and many are in the final stages of prosecution. Two cases have resulted in convictions and are currently pending sentence.
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Trader Fights Extradition
Dr John Irving, a British oil trader, is fighting extradition to the USA on charges of allegedly paying kickbacks to Saddam Hussein's regime.
Should Dr Irving be extradited, and convicted, he faces up to 62 years in prison; he denies the charges.
Dr Irving's solicitor, Andrew Preston, has asked the Serious Fraud Office and the Crown Prosecution Service to examine charges laid down in a federal indictment.
He wants the charges to be investigated in Britain, rather than face extradition. In the US he may be denied bail, and held in a high security prison.
The extradition request made by the US is under the same controversial law as the NatWest Three, who are awaiting trial in Houston.
The law has been criticised as it was originally drafted to fight terrorism, now it is being used against alleged "white collar" crime.
Dr Irving is accused of assisting in the illegal payment of millions of dollars to Iraqi officials, in exchange for deals to buy discounted oil.
Dr Irving is the only Briton to have been indicted for corrupt behaviour under the UN's Oil-for-Food programme.
It is alleged that Dr Irving was working for Bayoil, a US oil trading company, and sent faxes to Iraq containing market information between 1997 and 2003. He is accused of paying inflated commissions to oil dealers in Iraq, while knowing that some of the money was being paid to the Iraqi regime. The indictment alleges that Dr Irving was one of those responsible for diverting funds from the Oil-for-Food programme.
Should Dr Irving be extradited, and convicted, he faces up to 62 years in prison; he denies the charges.
Dr Irving's solicitor, Andrew Preston, has asked the Serious Fraud Office and the Crown Prosecution Service to examine charges laid down in a federal indictment.
He wants the charges to be investigated in Britain, rather than face extradition. In the US he may be denied bail, and held in a high security prison.
The extradition request made by the US is under the same controversial law as the NatWest Three, who are awaiting trial in Houston.
The law has been criticised as it was originally drafted to fight terrorism, now it is being used against alleged "white collar" crime.
Dr Irving is accused of assisting in the illegal payment of millions of dollars to Iraqi officials, in exchange for deals to buy discounted oil.
Dr Irving is the only Briton to have been indicted for corrupt behaviour under the UN's Oil-for-Food programme.
It is alleged that Dr Irving was working for Bayoil, a US oil trading company, and sent faxes to Iraq containing market information between 1997 and 2003. He is accused of paying inflated commissions to oil dealers in Iraq, while knowing that some of the money was being paid to the Iraqi regime. The indictment alleges that Dr Irving was one of those responsible for diverting funds from the Oil-for-Food programme.
Monday, March 20, 2006
Iraq's Missing Billions
Those of you with access to UK TV's Channel 4, should watch their Dispatches programme at 20:00 tonight.
It will detail where the $20BN allocated to rebuild Iraq has gone.
In a nutshell, it has been stolen.
363 tonnes of $100 dollar notes were flown from Andrews Air Force base into Iraq, during the first 14 months of occupation. The money ended up in the pockets of corrupt businessmen and corrupt officials.
US attorney Alan Grayson is quoted as saying:
"Iraq became a free fraud zone, and in a free fraud zone, you can steal anything you like. And that's what they did".
The people of Iraq have lost out, the members of the Administration in Washington who presided over this disgrace should hang their heads in shame.
There are some very senior people should be going to jail for this.
It will detail where the $20BN allocated to rebuild Iraq has gone.
In a nutshell, it has been stolen.
363 tonnes of $100 dollar notes were flown from Andrews Air Force base into Iraq, during the first 14 months of occupation. The money ended up in the pockets of corrupt businessmen and corrupt officials.
US attorney Alan Grayson is quoted as saying:
"Iraq became a free fraud zone, and in a free fraud zone, you can steal anything you like. And that's what they did".
The people of Iraq have lost out, the members of the Administration in Washington who presided over this disgrace should hang their heads in shame.
There are some very senior people should be going to jail for this.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)