Fraud in Iraq - Custer Battles - Hearings Today
The Raw Story: Democrats plan hearings on deliberate overbilling, fraud in Iraq contracts
The hearing is scheduled for Feb. 14 and will be led by Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-SD). The hearings are held by the Democratic Policy Committee (DPC), which is composed of senators from the Democratic caucus and does not have subpoena power. The meeting will be held from 10:00 a.m. - noon in room 628 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.
Among those also scheduled to appear are Alan Grayson, a lawyer who represents two whistleblowers in a False Claims Act case against CPA contractor Custer Battles. Grayson will detail a series of scandals in which Custer falsely billed the United States for work done in Iraq.
A series of audits of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA)completed over the past seven months have exposed serious failures in the CPA's oversight of Iraq reconstruction and development funds. Most recently, a comprehensive audit by the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR) showed, among other things, that the CPA has lost track of nearly $9 billion in Iraqi oil funds.
These audits indicate that the CPA failed to implement necessary financial controls and procedures for awarding and overseeing both reconstruction contracts and Iraqi oil funds. This atmosphere of lax oversight may have enabled unscrupulous contractors to defraud the CPA. Whistleblowers at this hearing will testify that at least one such contractor, Custer Battles, engaged in a pattern of activities that constituted theft and fraud.
In addition, in another instance of the Bush Administration's failure to pursue rigorous enforcement of contractor abuses, the Department of Justice has declined to join the whistleblowers' pending False Claims Act case against Custer Battles on the grounds that "cheating the Coalition Provision Authority is not the same thing as cheating the U.S. government."
This DPC oversight hearing will examine: 1. whether the Bush Administration's failure to implement procurement safeguards at the CPA resulted in avoidable losses to American taxpayers; and 2. whether the Administration's refusal to join the Custer Battles whistleblowers' False Claims Act case means these funds are less likely to be recovered on behalf of the American people.
Whistleblowers include prominent former Coalition Provisional Authority staff, names to be released on the day. Link
See previous Custer Battles posts.
The hearing is scheduled for Feb. 14 and will be led by Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-SD). The hearings are held by the Democratic Policy Committee (DPC), which is composed of senators from the Democratic caucus and does not have subpoena power. The meeting will be held from 10:00 a.m. - noon in room 628 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.
Among those also scheduled to appear are Alan Grayson, a lawyer who represents two whistleblowers in a False Claims Act case against CPA contractor Custer Battles. Grayson will detail a series of scandals in which Custer falsely billed the United States for work done in Iraq.
A series of audits of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA)completed over the past seven months have exposed serious failures in the CPA's oversight of Iraq reconstruction and development funds. Most recently, a comprehensive audit by the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR) showed, among other things, that the CPA has lost track of nearly $9 billion in Iraqi oil funds.
These audits indicate that the CPA failed to implement necessary financial controls and procedures for awarding and overseeing both reconstruction contracts and Iraqi oil funds. This atmosphere of lax oversight may have enabled unscrupulous contractors to defraud the CPA. Whistleblowers at this hearing will testify that at least one such contractor, Custer Battles, engaged in a pattern of activities that constituted theft and fraud.
In addition, in another instance of the Bush Administration's failure to pursue rigorous enforcement of contractor abuses, the Department of Justice has declined to join the whistleblowers' pending False Claims Act case against Custer Battles on the grounds that "cheating the Coalition Provision Authority is not the same thing as cheating the U.S. government."
This DPC oversight hearing will examine: 1. whether the Bush Administration's failure to implement procurement safeguards at the CPA resulted in avoidable losses to American taxpayers; and 2. whether the Administration's refusal to join the Custer Battles whistleblowers' False Claims Act case means these funds are less likely to be recovered on behalf of the American people.
Whistleblowers include prominent former Coalition Provisional Authority staff, names to be released on the day. Link
See previous Custer Battles posts.
posted by exoplanet at 7:36 AM
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