Saturday, May 13, 2006
CPA Corruption: case studies
Tuesday, February 15, 2005
CPA Corruption: case studies!
The Washington Post reports (Below)on a lawsuit that has resulted in the publication of extensive allegations by former Coalition Provisional Authority staff that the organisation was corrupt, incompetent, and spectacularly hopeless with money. Interestingly, much of the dirtstorm centres around the security contractor CusterBattles, who Ranters will remember from this story from January ($300 Million flown out of Iraq). If you recall, a savage $300 million in raw cash somehow got flown out of Iraq aboard a plane bearing "CusterBattles Levant" titles that happened to have a number of far-right Lebanese political identities on board too. Reportedly the cash was used to purchase arms - from whom, we might well ask - outside the financial controls imposed on the transitional government.
If that wasn't dodgy enough, it now appears that CB was handed impressive sums drawn on Iraqi revenues for work that was never carried out, and indeed was never needed. You can get the text of the CPA's former senior aviation official Franklin Willis's statement here (pdf). It makes damning reading. Willis describes vast amounts of crisp $100 bills literally crammed into a dank basement. Payments to contractors were made by simply handing out bags of cash. CusterBattles were meant to provide security for civilian air operations at Baghdad Airport, but (according to Franklin) no such operations took place. But they still received great wedges of green from the cash basement. They used this to build up a large camp for up to 300 employees and a large number of dogs at the airport, the base for their other business activities.
What is odd about Willis's testimony is that there were - still are - civilian air services to Baghdad. Royal Jordanian Airlines operated daily to Amman through the life of the CPA. Not to mention the cargo charters, from DHL to British Gulf and Air Bas. He describes with vigour an atmosphere of financial anarchy, administrative chaos and incompetence that could well explain how the Boutcos were hired...if it wasn't for the big question. That is, if it was all a mistake in conditions of chaos and raging crisis, why did they try to get Bout off the asset freeze lists instead of immediately and effectively getting rid of all contracts with him, and if possible seizing any aircraft within their control? No-one has yet given a plausible explanation of this paradox.
Unless, of course, this Asia Times report on alleged efforts to arm Sunni "loyalist paramilitaries" in Iraq is true. Back at the start of the story, a source suggested such was the case. I'm not sure if the Asia Times is believable, though.
Another interesting sidelight is this comment by Willis:
"We
also should have made much better use of the British at the CPA. (After all, they are more experienced than we in this kind of stuff!) Jeremy Greenstock and Andy Bearpark are two of the finest civil servants I have encountered, but they and the other British were not brought into full participation by the American side."
Remember this?
Original: http://yorkshire-ranter.blogspot.com/2005/02/cpa-corruption-case-studies.html
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Lawmakers Told About Contract Abuse in Iraq
By Griff Witte
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, February 15, 2005; Page A03
A government contractor defrauded the Coalition Provisional Authority of tens of millions of dollars in Iraq reconstruction funds and the Bush administration has done little to try to recover the money, an attorney for two whistle-blowers told Democratic lawmakers yesterday.
The lawyer, Alan Grayson, represents two former employees who charged in a federal lawsuit that the security firm Custer Battles LLC of Fairfax was paid approximately $15 million to provide security for civilian flights at Baghdad International Airport, even though no planes flew during the contract term. Grayson said the firm received $100 million in contracts in 2003 and 2004, despite a thin track record and evidence the government was not getting its money's worth.
A former Coalition Provisional Authority official who briefly oversaw the airport security contract also spoke, depicting a temporary governing body awash with cash but lacking in the necessary controls to ensure that money generated from the sale of Iraqi oil actually went to rebuilding the country.
"I wish I could tell you that the Bush administration has done everything it could to detect and punish fraud in Iraq," Grayson said. "If I said that to you, though, I would be lying."
The Pentagon has suspended Custer Battles from receiving new contracts, but Grayson said the Justice Department declined last fall to help pursue the case, now pending in federal court in Alexandria.
Lawyers representing Custer Battles have denied the charges and have argued that the case should be dismissed because the money that was allegedly stolen belonged to Iraqis, not to Americans. Grayson said that argument has the potential to turn Iraq during the authority's administration of the country into "a fraud-free zone," with contractors not subject to Iraqi or American law.
Yesterday's appearances were organized by the Democratic Policy Committee. Its chairman, Sen. Byron L. Dorgan (D-N.D.), said the witnesses were called in response to a recent report by the inspector general for Iraqi reconstruction that concluded that the governing authority had inadequate controls over $8.8 billion in Iraqi funds it was supposed to oversee. Former administrator L. Paul Bremer has denied those allegations. Dorgan said Democrats had attempted to get Republican colleagues to hold hearings on the issue but were unsuccessful.
"There is a massive amount of waste, fraud and abuse going on here, and nobody seems to care very much," Dorgan said.
Rep. Thomas M. Davis III (R-Va.), chairman of the House Government Reform Committee, said in an interview that he found some of yesterday's allegations "disturbing." He said his committee has already held hearings on the use of reconstruction funds in Iraq and plans to hold more. "If there's something wrong, we will go after it vigorously," he said.
The former authority official, Franklin Willis, who advised Iraqi ministries on aviation issues, said it soon became clear Custer Battles was not carrying out its obligations. But Willis said the body's contracting officials were stretched far too thin.
On at least two occasions, Willis said, the firm was paid $2 million from a vault in the authority's basement, served up in $100,000 plastic-wrapped bricks of cash.
"We called in Mike Battles and said, 'Bring a bag,' " Willis said.
Michael Battles and Scott K. Custer, both former U.S. Special Operations soldiers, founded the company in 2002. Battles ran unsuccessfully as the Republican candidate for Congress in Rhode Island that year.
After an interview with Custer in January 2004, agents from the Pentagon inspector general's office wrote, "Battles is very active in the Republican Party and speaks to individuals he knows at the White House almost daily, according to Custer." A White House spokesman had no immediate comment.
Original: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A24468-2005Feb14.html?nav=rss_topnews
____________________________________________________________________________________
CPA Corruption: case studies!
The Washington Post reports (Below)on a lawsuit that has resulted in the publication of extensive allegations by former Coalition Provisional Authority staff that the organisation was corrupt, incompetent, and spectacularly hopeless with money. Interestingly, much of the dirtstorm centres around the security contractor CusterBattles, who Ranters will remember from this story from January ($300 Million flown out of Iraq). If you recall, a savage $300 million in raw cash somehow got flown out of Iraq aboard a plane bearing "CusterBattles Levant" titles that happened to have a number of far-right Lebanese political identities on board too. Reportedly the cash was used to purchase arms - from whom, we might well ask - outside the financial controls imposed on the transitional government.
If that wasn't dodgy enough, it now appears that CB was handed impressive sums drawn on Iraqi revenues for work that was never carried out, and indeed was never needed. You can get the text of the CPA's former senior aviation official Franklin Willis's statement here (pdf). It makes damning reading. Willis describes vast amounts of crisp $100 bills literally crammed into a dank basement. Payments to contractors were made by simply handing out bags of cash. CusterBattles were meant to provide security for civilian air operations at Baghdad Airport, but (according to Franklin) no such operations took place. But they still received great wedges of green from the cash basement. They used this to build up a large camp for up to 300 employees and a large number of dogs at the airport, the base for their other business activities.
What is odd about Willis's testimony is that there were - still are - civilian air services to Baghdad. Royal Jordanian Airlines operated daily to Amman through the life of the CPA. Not to mention the cargo charters, from DHL to British Gulf and Air Bas. He describes with vigour an atmosphere of financial anarchy, administrative chaos and incompetence that could well explain how the Boutcos were hired...if it wasn't for the big question. That is, if it was all a mistake in conditions of chaos and raging crisis, why did they try to get Bout off the asset freeze lists instead of immediately and effectively getting rid of all contracts with him, and if possible seizing any aircraft within their control? No-one has yet given a plausible explanation of this paradox.
Unless, of course, this Asia Times report on alleged efforts to arm Sunni "loyalist paramilitaries" in Iraq is true. Back at the start of the story, a source suggested such was the case. I'm not sure if the Asia Times is believable, though.
Another interesting sidelight is this comment by Willis:
"We
also should have made much better use of the British at the CPA. (After all, they are more experienced than we in this kind of stuff!) Jeremy Greenstock and Andy Bearpark are two of the finest civil servants I have encountered, but they and the other British were not brought into full participation by the American side."
Remember this?
Original: http://yorkshire-ranter.blogspot.com/2005/02/cpa-corruption-case-studies.html
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Lawmakers Told About Contract Abuse in Iraq
By Griff Witte
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, February 15, 2005; Page A03
A government contractor defrauded the Coalition Provisional Authority of tens of millions of dollars in Iraq reconstruction funds and the Bush administration has done little to try to recover the money, an attorney for two whistle-blowers told Democratic lawmakers yesterday.
The lawyer, Alan Grayson, represents two former employees who charged in a federal lawsuit that the security firm Custer Battles LLC of Fairfax was paid approximately $15 million to provide security for civilian flights at Baghdad International Airport, even though no planes flew during the contract term. Grayson said the firm received $100 million in contracts in 2003 and 2004, despite a thin track record and evidence the government was not getting its money's worth.
A former Coalition Provisional Authority official who briefly oversaw the airport security contract also spoke, depicting a temporary governing body awash with cash but lacking in the necessary controls to ensure that money generated from the sale of Iraqi oil actually went to rebuilding the country.
"I wish I could tell you that the Bush administration has done everything it could to detect and punish fraud in Iraq," Grayson said. "If I said that to you, though, I would be lying."
The Pentagon has suspended Custer Battles from receiving new contracts, but Grayson said the Justice Department declined last fall to help pursue the case, now pending in federal court in Alexandria.
Lawyers representing Custer Battles have denied the charges and have argued that the case should be dismissed because the money that was allegedly stolen belonged to Iraqis, not to Americans. Grayson said that argument has the potential to turn Iraq during the authority's administration of the country into "a fraud-free zone," with contractors not subject to Iraqi or American law.
Yesterday's appearances were organized by the Democratic Policy Committee. Its chairman, Sen. Byron L. Dorgan (D-N.D.), said the witnesses were called in response to a recent report by the inspector general for Iraqi reconstruction that concluded that the governing authority had inadequate controls over $8.8 billion in Iraqi funds it was supposed to oversee. Former administrator L. Paul Bremer has denied those allegations. Dorgan said Democrats had attempted to get Republican colleagues to hold hearings on the issue but were unsuccessful.
"There is a massive amount of waste, fraud and abuse going on here, and nobody seems to care very much," Dorgan said.
Rep. Thomas M. Davis III (R-Va.), chairman of the House Government Reform Committee, said in an interview that he found some of yesterday's allegations "disturbing." He said his committee has already held hearings on the use of reconstruction funds in Iraq and plans to hold more. "If there's something wrong, we will go after it vigorously," he said.
The former authority official, Franklin Willis, who advised Iraqi ministries on aviation issues, said it soon became clear Custer Battles was not carrying out its obligations. But Willis said the body's contracting officials were stretched far too thin.
On at least two occasions, Willis said, the firm was paid $2 million from a vault in the authority's basement, served up in $100,000 plastic-wrapped bricks of cash.
"We called in Mike Battles and said, 'Bring a bag,' " Willis said.
Michael Battles and Scott K. Custer, both former U.S. Special Operations soldiers, founded the company in 2002. Battles ran unsuccessfully as the Republican candidate for Congress in Rhode Island that year.
After an interview with Custer in January 2004, agents from the Pentagon inspector general's office wrote, "Battles is very active in the Republican Party and speaks to individuals he knows at the White House almost daily, according to Custer." A White House spokesman had no immediate comment.
Original: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A24468-2005Feb14.html?nav=rss_topnews
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# posted by Always @ 6:58 AM 
