Top Food Supplier to (US)Military Indicted
By MIKE ESTERL
ATLANTA — The U.S. government filed a criminal indictment against a Kuwaiti company that is the leading food supplier to the American military in Iraq, in what prosecutors described as the first step in a broader investigation.
The Department of Justice on Monday declined to estimate the scope of the alleged fraud by Kuwait-based Public Warehousing Co. K.S.C., but it said in a statement that it believed the amount to be massive. PWC has received more than $8.5 billion in food-supply contracts for U.S. military personnel in Iraq, Kuwait and Jordan dating back to 2003, the DOJ said.
PWC, which rebranded itself as Agility in 2006 and continues to supply food to U.S. troops, said in a statement that it was confident the U.S. government allegations “will be found to be without merit.” PWC is “surprised and disappointed” by the indictment, it said.
Barbara Nelan, assistant U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, told reporters that the indictment against PWC was “the first step” in a broader investigation of individuals and other companies that may have participated in the alleged fraud.
The criminal indictment by a federal grand jury was filed under seal last week in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. Prosecutors on Monday said it was triggered in part by a whistle-blower civil suit filed with the same court by Kamal Mustafa Al-Sultan in November 2005.
Mr. Mustafa Al-Sultan, a former business partner of PWC, alleged in an amended civil suit against PWC in U.S. District Court in Atlanta last month that the Kuwaiti logistics company has defrauded the U.S. government of more than $1 billion by marking up prices by 30% or more.
The DOJ alleges that Sulaibiya, Kuwait-based PWC provided “false invoices and statements” to the Defense Supply Center Philadelphia, a branch of the Department of Defense that gives logistical support to U.S. troops. It says PWC used various tactics to artificially inflate bills and retain “product rebates, allowances and discounts” that should have gone to the U.S. government.
Among other allegations, prosecutors say PWC conspired with Kuwaiti subcontractor The Sultan Center Food Products Co. KSC — known as T.S.C. — to charge the U.S. above-retail prices for fresh fruit and vegetables. It alleges that T.S.C. then paid kickbacks to PWC in the form of a 10% rebate.
PWC received $62.3 million in such rebates from T.S.C. during the first 41 months of food-supply contracts with the U.S. military, the DOJ alleges. That figure doesn’t include an undisclosed amount of rebates spanning another 35 months of supply contracts between the parties, prosecutors said in the indictment, which was made public on Monday. T.S.C. didn’t return calls seeking comment.
In another case, prosecutors allege that PWC overcharged for food by persuading an unnamed Georgia-based supplier to reduce the pack sizes of products it sold by half so that PWC could bill the U.S. military twice as much.
The Department of Defense said that it has suspended PWC from bidding for contracts during the legal proceedings. The suspension doesn’t preclude PWC from completing its current contracts.
Prosecutors said they hoped to claim as much as two times the money that PWC gained from the food-supply contracts or two times the estimated loss to the U.S.
—Brent Kendall and Yochi Dreazen in Washington contributed to this article. (click HERE for original article)
According to yesterdays article (click HERE) it stated:
“The largest shareholder of its parent company – named Khalid Sultan – has been linked to the terrorist organization Revival of the Islamic Heritage Society known as RIHS; he also acts as the leader of the Islamic Salaf Alliance, the political arm of RIHS. RIHS has been designated by US Treasury as a terrorist organization,” CBS News’ Investigative Team reports.
PWC/Agility’s Response to the allegations
Gosh it sounds as though a certain “Spokeswoman” (Heather Browne) has been cloned, doesn’t it? Maybe she is moon lighting.
Statement by Public Warehousing Co. (PWC) Concerning Indictment Announcement
WASHINGTON, Nov. 16 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — PWC has for some time worked with the government to seek a mutually agreeable resolution to this contract dispute and is surprised and disappointed that the government has decided to take this action.
The company has been the principal food supplier for the U.S. military in Kuwait and Iraq since 2003. The prices it charges have been negotiated with, agreed to, and continually approved as by the U.S. government since then. The government has consistently found PWC’s prices to be fair and reasonable.
Since 2006, the company’s “fill rates” – the number of cases of food accepted compared with the number ordered – were consistently more than 99 percent, a number that exceeds the fill rates of U.S. domestic service providers. That means that PWC was more successful in delivering food and other items to the military in a hostile war zone than other vendors have been within the safe environs of the continental U.S.
The company has long cooperated with government reviews, inspections, audits and inquiries necessary to ensure taxpayer dollars are being spent appropriately.
More than 30 PWC employees have been killed and 200 injured carrying out the extremely dangerous work of providing food for U.S. troops in a war zone, primarily in attacks on convoys that have destroyed more than 300 trucks and damaged another 700.
An indictment is merely an allegation. PWC is confident that once these allegations are examined in court, they will be found to be without merit.
This bit of information just came in in an email….Thanks!!
The Sultan family also provides garbage pick up and porta potty sanitation on all Kuwait bases, they won the contract from Future Services
“PWC has been debarred from future contract awards until such time as a determination has been made about the company’s current responsibility as a contractor. These allegations should have no impact on any current contracts with the U.S. government,”
http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE5AG2Z120091117
I wonder if PWC was able to make a convoy run to Houston prior to this announcement? The legal team and management are most likely in need of a large quantity of Depend® at the Clinton Dr. Location after all this.
Ms Sparky’s Response:
Would that be 4100 Clinton Drive, Houston TX?? You just have to know that KBR is involved. I’m sure they just don’t know who knows what. It is going to be interesting to sit back and see how this all shakes out!!
I’m never one to give KBR a free pass, but I doubt they have any involvement in this one. Yes, they run the DFACs, serve the food, store the food, inventory the food…but they don’t order the food. That is the Army’s responsibility, and the Army has jacked that up for over a decade. The last prime vendor contractor was in a web of fraud as well.
But this is a very interesting story. Did you know that TAOS industries, a wholly owned subsidiary of Agility is a major subcontractor to Dyncorp on LOGCAP IV? They also have multiple joint ventures with other DOD contractors to provide base/facilities maintenance like a $48 Million/year contract at an Air Force base in Spain. Oh,..and another interesting little tidbit…Taos’s CEO is the one and only retired Gen Joe Cosumano, former KBR Sr. VP of G&I.
But it looks like these guys are going to be stopped in their tracks. Agility, along with all of their subsidiaries have been indefinitely debarred from receiving U.S. Govt contracts.
Foresti’s Response:
According to the press release this indictment is only the “first step.” I am looking forward to step two.
Tax dollars for Terrorist a snappy title. Did not see anything linking the food supplier to terrorist i guess it is a way get people to read the story.
Foresti’s Response:
According to yesterdays article in CBS News it stated:
“The largest shareholder of its parent company – named Khalid Sultan – has been linked to the terrorist organization Revival of the Islamic Heritage Society known as RIHS; he also acts as the leader of the Islamic Salaf Alliance, the political arm of RIHS. RIHS has been designated by US Treasury as a terrorist organization,” CBS News’ Investigative Team reports. Also click on the US Treasury link in the article and read the press release.
Here is another link and yes I thought it was a snappy title too, glad you liked it.
Ms Sparky’s Response:
Alright Ksniper….Forseti and I are going to tag team you on this one…..we even put in the Treasury Department link. And you are right….that is a snappy title.
Here is a link to Project On Government Oversight Neil Gordon’s post on this:
http://pogoblog.typepad.com/pogo/2009/11/kuwaiti-company-accused-of-playing-with-uncle-sams-food.html
There is contact information for those of you that may have information.
“Others who have engaged in similar conduct should beware,” warned Gentry Shelnutt, acting U.S. attorney for the case. “This indictment is only the first step.”
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2009/11/17/Kuwaits-PWC-challenges-USclaims/UPI-65321258489853/
FYI…KBR, is responsible for ordering all foods in the DFAC’s….
Ms Sparky’s Response:
I agree. How could anyone else order food that wasn’t involved with the DFAC? It doesn’t make sense…but then again it is the Army. They seem to have a knack for FUBAR-ing things.
FYI…KBR doesn’t order all food for the DFAC. That is either a lie or a misguided interpretation.
Ms Sparky’s Response:
You must be a KBR attorney! If KBR…the DFAC managers don’t order food or send a list for “someone” to order then just how would “the Army” or whoever DOES order food know just how much lobster, crab legs, prime rib, Baskin Robbins and collard greens to order? So just what do those KBR DFAC supervisors do if they don’t supervise the DFAC?
I would like to follow up and say thanks to Sevilleqtr for emailing me and clarifying how they know know so much about this issue. They should be considered a subject matter expert!
No, I’m far from a KBR attourney. I don’t work for KBR. I don’t own any KBR stock. But I do have an intimate knowledge of DOD contracting and LOGCAP.
When contractors or government personnel are involved in fraud against the government, it makes me livid. I hope Agility gets whats coming to them. But I also believe in fairness. And to state that KBR is responsible for ordering all foods is just plain wrong and the assertion that KBR is involved in this is extremely far fetched. Let me explain:
First, food is provided by a separate DLA (Defense Logistics Agency) contract referred to as “Prime Vendor.” (The current PV contract holder is Agility.) It is not subcontracted by KBR or other LOGCAP contractors . Considering this, a contractor can not obligate another government contract. That is an inherently governmental function and only contracting officers or ordering officers can do that; and these people, by law, must be government employees.
So what just what do the DFAC supervisors do? Their primary responsibilites are to take receipt of the food, serve it, document how much food they’ve served, how much food they have left and manage the employees charged with these duties. (In my opinion, one of the hardest and most important jobs in all of LOGCAP)
Do the DFAC supervisors play any role in how much food gets ordered? Sure. But the role that they play isn’t significant enough to contribute to Agility’s fraud in this case. DFAC supervisors send a request for more food to the Army as supplies deminish. But that request is primarily derived on the basis of past consumption vs. current stock level at that particular DFAC. An Army logistics officer compiles these lists and is then supposed to determine how much food to order from Prime Vendor based on several factors, most of which do not involve the DFAC supervisor at all. The amount of food to be ordered is based on formulas with distinctive variables that include past consumption and future troop projections over a period of time, across several locations and other information that individual DFAC supervisors are not privy to nor are involved with.
In other words, DFAC supervisors basically tell the Govt how much food they’ve used, how many people they’ve fed and what they are about to run out of at their respective location. Sorry, but that is NOT the same or even CLOSE to being the same as “being responsible for ordering all food.”
So, DFAC supervisors certainly have some input in the process, but to state that they are responsible for ordering food is misleading and just not true.
Thank you for this very informative comment! I hope you will contribute regularly.
I used to work for KBR and have witnessed several DFAC KBR employees ordering food for the DFAC’s. They order according to the military 28 day food calendar. At, least they are supposed to anyway. Anything over that is just ration for holidays and anything else they want to do with the food for the military or themselves and friends…
Ms Sparky’s Response:
Thank you. That’s what I saw as well. I actually had DFAC Managers tell me they could order me whatever I needed. I’m sure the price tag for that personal service was much more than I was willing to pay.
Sevillegtr’s confusion may be in what was supposed to be happening compared to what was actually happening!
(I cross posted this comment from another post. It is pertinent to this post as well….Ms Sparky)
The Agility (PWC) story has some interesting twists to it. In the beginning of LOGCAP in Afghanistan, Iraq and other places KBR provided total dining facility services, including food. In late 2003 the Army was instructed to ammend KBR’s contract to change food to a Government provided material under the Prime Vendor Subsistence contract with PWC. This was done, though it took PWC a while to set up their distribution in Iraq.
At the time I thought this was just a “rice bowl” fight between two DoD agencies, but now I wonder. This was quite a large order for PWC, who may have had some ability to influence the decision.
PWC was awarded the Prime Vendor contract out of Defense Personnel Support Center Philadelphia, which is a part of Defense Logistics Agency (DLA). The have subsequently received a competitive follow-on award. PWC’s managing director, Tarek Sultan, is a member of the Sultan al-Essa family. Another member of the family is chairman and managing director of the board of the National Real Estate Company of Kuwait, PWC’s largest stockholder. PWC has a broad shareholding base that includes prominent private and public sector investors such as the National Real Estate Company (owners of the Free Trade Zone Concession) and the Public Institute for Social Security (PIFSS). Part of the possible fraud involves subcontracts with various of these interlocking business interests.
With some scandals brewing PWC has changed its name to Agility. In July 2008 they announced two management changes:
1. Agility named Dan Mongeon as CEO of its Defense & Government Services (DGS) business group. Mongeon, a retired U.S. Army major general, has been president of Agility DGS since June 2006. Mongeon joined Agility, formerly PWC Logistics, in 2006 after 34 years in the Army. He is former director of operations at the Defense Logistics Agency in Fort Belvoir, Va. He also served as deputy chief of staff for logistics, U.S. Armed Forces Command at Fort McPherson, Ga., and was commander of the Defense Personnel Support Center in Philadelphia. Hmmmm.
2. Agility announced that retired Army Lt. Gen. Paul Cerjan joined the company as President of its Defense & Government Services business group responsible for Europe, Middle East and Africa. Before joining Agility DGS, Cerjan held senior management positions at L-3 Government Services, KBR, Loral and Lockheed Martin. Cerjan was also President of Regent University which supplied a host of young Christian conservatives to the Bush Administration, remember Monica Goodling. This is a guy who had easy entry to some high levels of the Bush administration.
Cerjan was at KBR as manager of LOGCAP for about a year. That was the year I was forced out and the Army started channeling money to KBR. Cerjan strikes me as a real fixer, not a manager.
Agility is not particularly a KBR problem. It is another issue of money which should have provided additional support for the troops siphoned off to unearned revenue for private firms.
Sorry for the long post, but this is critical stuff.
Always great to get your input on these contract issues.
All warehouses are supposed to stay stock with a certain amount of food at all times including MRE’s. The gov’t should be aware of what is being ordered if everything supposed to be connect in the same computer systems..Oh, but wait KBR gets that information first, just like all ppwrk. The military has NOTHING to do with what KBR orders as long as it’s items contain to there 28 day menu. Whatever, KBR order PWC has to make sure that order is fullfil and that it gets to the DFAC’s in a certain amount of days. But, the bottomline here is KBR is doing the ordering and anything over what is necessary….
I have been getting corrected consistently about the KBR/PWC/DoD relationship by some very knowledgeable experts. THANK YOU for that!!
But, I do not find it unreasonable to surmise that there was a high level manager in KBR that put the word out that the DFAC supervisors should order “whatever” was needed. We know the DoD staff who did the actual ordering was probably overworked and under motivated. Whould it be too hard to believe that PWC was paying off someone in the DoD and/or KBR? I don’t think it is far fetched at all. Not knowing what we know now! I am not going to say these were KBR or DoD sanctioned transactions. We know what Heather Browne would say about that!
Here’s a related CNN article about this PWC indictment.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/11/16/soldier.food.charges/
It looks like the part of the joint venture includes Parsons and they have named it Contingency Response Services:
DynCorp International, Parsons, and PWC Logistics formed Contingency Response Services to provide rapid response contingency services in support of the Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC).
For disaster response, humanitarian assistance, or interim base operating support services, Contingency Response Services can serve the Navy and other government agencies with rapid task order award, efficient project mobilization, and competitive rates.
Federal agencies seeking information about this user-friendly and streamlined contract may contact:
Henry S. Miller
CRS President and Program Manager
Phone: 817-313-6165
Hank.Miller@dyn-intl.com
http://www.dyn-intl.com/projects-crs.aspx
Agility in talks to end US case
Published Date: December 29, 2009
KUWAIT: Kuwaiti logistics firm Agility said yesterday it was in talks with the US government regarding an out-of-court settlement in a fraud case, but no deal has been reached yet. “A deal has not been reached until now, and there are no guarantees that these negotiations would lead to a solution,” Agility said in a statement on the Kuwaiti bourse website yesterday. Earlier, the Kuwait bourse halted trading in Agility’s shares pending clarification of reports the logistics firm is near to a settlement.
Several Kuwaiti newspapers carried reports yesterday about Agility seeking a settlement of up to $600 million with the US government. “Until now the final settlement has not been signed, as some of the points are still pending, however the amount is between $500 million and $600 million,” Kuwaiti daily Al-Qabas said in an unsourced report. The firm will seek to schedule the settlement amount over a five-year period, Qabas said, adding the settlement will allow Agility to acquire new contracts.
Agility is accused of overcharging the US Army on $8.5 billion worth of contracts to provide food to soldiers in Iraq, Kuwait and Jordan. If convicted of violations of the False Claims Act, the firm faces probation and a fine of up to twice the gain it realised or twice the loss to the United States.
A settlement would be better for Agility, but I do not think that Agility will sacrifice huge amounts in the settlement,” Mustafa Behbahani, a director at Kuwait Gulf Consulting Co said on Monday. “It all depends on the future deals Agility is eyeing. If the future contracts are worth four or five times more than the settlement amount, this would be in favour of the firm,” he added.
Last week, an Agility spokesman said a court hearing was being rescheduled and no new date had yet been set. The Kuwaiti firm announced last week that US defence contractor DynCorp International had dropped its US unit as a subcontractor in a US Army deal. Agility said it was looking at legal options over DynCorp’s decision to drop Agility Defense and Government Services Inc as a subcontractor as of Dec 17. Agility’s shares fell 3 percent on the Kuwait bourse yesterday after trading resumed. – Reuters
The wheels of justice turn slowly but eventually those who bilked the U.S. taxpayer, including those who have illegal Swiss Bank accounts will have to pay up as they say in South Philly.