» 2011 » December Ms Sparky

Hearing: Oversight in Iraq and Afghanistan: Challenges and Solutions

Posted on: December 12th, 2011 at 3:58 am — by Forseti

Gov’t Investigators Testify on Iraq & Afghanistan Rebuilding

Witnesses:
The Honorable Gordon S. Heddell
Inspector General
U.S. Department of Defense
(Click HERE for testimony PDF)

The Honorable Harold W. Geisel
Deputy Inspector General
U.S. Department of State
(Click HERE for testimony PDF)

Mr. Michael G. Carroll
Acting Inspector General
U.S. Agency for International Development
(Click HERE for testimony PDF)

Mr. Stuart W. Bowen
Inspector General
Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction
(Click HERE for testimony PDF)

Mr. Steven J. Trent
Acting Inspector General
Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction
(Click HERE for testimony PDF)

(C-Span) – Washington, DC – December 7, 2011 – A House Oversight subcommittee heard from the Inspectors General of the State Department, the Defense Department, and the U.S. Agency for International Development – as they try to decide whether to create a special Inspector General position to oversee just overseas contracting in places like Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Commission on Wartime Contracting, which was created by Congress in 2008, recently issued its final recommendations which included establishing the special IG position to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse. (Click HERE for article)

Posted in Commission on Wartime Contracting (CWC), GOV. CONTRACTORS, Reports & Investigations, Senate & House Committee Hearings. Tags: Commission on Wartime Contracting, DoD Contractors, DoD*, DoDIG*, DOS*, Gordon Heddell, Harold W. Geisel, Michael Carroll, SIGAR, SIGIR, Steven Trent, Stuart W. Bowen, USAID. 3 Comments »

Filling ‘er up on your dime & other news

Posted on: December 11th, 2011 at 8:37 am — by Forseti

$400 per gallon gasoline in Afghanistan

According to a recent Bloomberg report, a single agency within the Pentagon – the Defense Logistics Agency – wasted $7.1 billion over three years by double ordering parts. It would take 10 years of food stamp fraud to match that amount. Meanwhile, the government has squandered $60 billion on contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2002.

A food stamp crackdown is wise, but if the government wants to hang on to even more money and increase its credibility with taxpayers, it needs to cast a much wider net. ~ Cast wider net on fraud, waste in government – Spokesman-Review

Air Force will not inform families of landfill remains
Kevin Baron – (National Journal) – December 9, 2011 - Responding to press revelations that the remains of hundreds of additional U.S. troops ended up in a landfill, an Air Force official said that the military regretted the pain the news may cause their families, but that the Pentagon would not inform them in order to honor their original wishes.

(Read the rest of the story here…)

Posted in GOV. CONTRACTORS, Indictments, Convictions & Arrests, LAWSUITS, Politics, Security Contractors. Tags: Army Criminal Investigation Command*, Ayatollah Khomeini, California National Guard, Camp Ashraf, Capt. Zack Albaugh, CPL Jason G. Pautsch, DCAA*, DoDIG*, Dover Air Force Base, Dover Mortuary, Faruq Khalil Muhammad`Isa, Genevia Jala Antranick, Guy Savage, Jalal Askander, John Farenish, Joint Worldwide Intelligence Communicaton System, Judge Advocate General Corps, Libya, Lt. Gen. Darrell D. Jones, Massimiliano Pincione, Mike Helms, Mojahedin-e-Khalq (MEK), Pentagon, PFC Bryce E. Gaultier, POGO, Procurement Integrity Office, Research Triangle Institute International, Sabre Defence Industries, Sayfildin Tahir Sharif, Secret Internet Protocol Router Network (SIPR), SFC Bryan E. Hall, SGT Edward W. Forrest Jr., SMI Hyundai Corp. H.R.H. Prince Khaled Bin Al Waleed, SSG Gary L. Woods, Suneeta Shreemal, Swiss Tech, Swiss Technology Inc., U.S. Air Force, Unity Resources Group, USAID, Venable LLP. No Comments »

Was McCreight a menace or ‘mentor’ to medal of honor recipient?

Posted on: December 10th, 2011 at 9:34 am — by Forseti

Ex-Marine fires back at Medal of Honor recipient

He says allegations of ridicule are ‘absurd.’

Dakota Meyer was awarded the Medal of Honor in a ceremony on September 15, 2011

Craig Kapitan – (San Antonio Express-News) – December 9, 2011 – A San Antonio-based supervisor for a military contracting firm facing a defamation suit by Medal of Honor recipient Dakota Meyer has fired back, stating in court filings that allegations he ridiculed Meyer’s service are “absurd.”

Meyer, who as a Marine serving in Afghanistan was credited with battlefield heroism that saved 36 lives, drew national media attention again after he accused former employer BAE Systems OASYS Inc. and boss Bobby McCreight of thwarting his ability to get a new job.

McCreight told a government program manager, who cont for military contracting projects, that Meyer had a drinking problem and was “mentally unstable,” the suit alleges.

McCreight acknowledged in court documents filed Thursday that he spoke with the program manager about Meyer’s integration back into civilian life.

But McCreight, who described himself as a mentor to Meyer, had no idea at the time that Meyer was applying for a job with fellow contractor Ausgar Technologies, documents state.

(Read the rest of the story here…)

Posted in A Soldiers Story, GOV. CONTRACTORS, LAWSUITS. Tags: Ausgar Technologies, BAE Systems, BAE Systems OASYS Inc., Bobby McCreight, Sgt. Dakota Meyer, U.S. Marine Corps. 1 Comment »

Judge to Seal Filings in KBR False Claims Suit

Posted on: December 10th, 2011 at 5:49 am — by Ms Sparky

Rose Bouboushian – (Courthouse News) – December 9, 2011 – Halliburton and KBR can redact portions of their motion to dismiss claims that they knowingly billed the United States for fictitious services, a federal judge ruled.

The whistle-blower, Benjamin Carter, worked as a reverse osmosis water purification unit (ROWPU) operator for Halliburton’s former subsidiary KBR in Iraq from January 2005 to April 2005.

(Read the rest of the story here…)

Posted in GOV. CONTRACTORS, LAWSUITS, Lawsuits Against KBR, LOGCAP III - KBR, Qui Tam, Reports & Investigations. Tags: Ben Carter, Benjamin Carter, Employee Issues-KBR, False Claims Act, Halliburton, Judge James Cacheris, KBR, Service Employees International (SEII). 15 Comments »

Thomas Manok sentenced for bribery in Baghdad

Posted on: December 10th, 2011 at 4:51 am — by Forseti

Thomas Manok (photo LinkedIn)

Former Army Corps of Engineers Employee Sentenced to 20 Months in Prison for Accepting Bribes from Iraqi Contractors

(DoJ) – WASHINGTON – December 9, 2011 – A former employee of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers stationed in Baghdad, Iraq, was sentenced today in the Eastern District of Virginia to 20 months in prison for conspiring to receive bribes from Iraqi contractors involved in the U.S.-funded reconstruction efforts, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Neil H. MacBride for the Eastern District of Virginia and Assistant Director in Charge James W. McJunkin of the FBI’s Washington Field Office.

Thomas Aram Manok, 51, of Chantilly, Va., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Anthony J. Trenga. In addition to his prison term, Manok was sentenced to three years of supervised release. Judge Trenga ordered a forfeiture hearing to be held on Jan. 13, 2012. Manok pleaded guilty on Sept. 19, 2011.

(Read the rest of the story here…)

Posted in GOV. CONTRACTORS, Indictments, Convictions & Arrests, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Tags: Abu Ghraib, Army Criminal Investigation Command*, DCIS*, DoDIG*, FBI, Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force, International Contract Corruption Task Force (ICCTF), Thomas Aram Manok, USACE. 2 Comments »

Former Air Force Master Sgt. Patrick Boyd sentenced in Bagram bribery case

Posted on: December 9th, 2011 at 8:53 am — by Forseti

Former U.S. Air Force Master Sergeant Sentenced to 40 Months in Prison for Receiving Bribes in Return for the Award of Contracts at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan

WASHINGTON – A former Master Sergeant in the U.S. Air Force was sentenced yesterday to 40 months in prison for conspiring to and receiving bribes from military contractors in return for the award of Department of Defense contracts during his deployment to Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.

Patrick W. Boyd, 44, of Gainesville, Fla., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Matthew F. Kennelly of the Northern District of Illinois. In addition to his prison term, Boyd was sentenced to one year of supervised release and was ordered to pay $130,000 in restitution.

Boyd pleaded guilty in June 2008 to a superseding indictment charging him with three counts of conspiracy to commit bribery and three counts of bribery. According to the superseding indictment and other documents filed in the case, Boyd served as a warranted contracting officer in Afghanistan from September 2004 to January 2005. While serving in Afghanistan, Boyd and his co-conspirators made separate agreements with three military contractors – Naweed Bakhshi Company, Northern Reconstruction Organization and Top’s Construction – to receive $30,000 cash from each company in return for the award of (Read the rest of the story here…)

Posted in GOV. CONTRACTORS, Indictments, Convictions & Arrests, U.S. Air Force. Tags: Army Criminal Investigations Division, Bagram Airfield, Defense Criminal Investigative Service*, DoJ*, LT Robert Moore, Major Christopher P. West, Master Sgt. Patrick Boyd, Naweed Bakhshi Company, Northern Reconstruction Organization, Sergeant Sheryl Ayeni, SIGAR, Top's Construction, U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ). 1 Comment »

Air Force dumped ashes of more troops’ remains in Va. landfill than acknowledged

Posted on: December 8th, 2011 at 8:39 am — by Forseti

If you aren’t enraged after reading the article, I honestly don’t know what to say to you.

The people who put it all on the line, put on the nation’s military colors, went into the worst of situations, and gave it body and soul for their country had portions of their remains dumped in a landfill. In case you’re confused, that is the exact same place where all of the stuff you put in a trash bag and at the curb once a week ends up. ~Rich Cooper, Dover’s Unconscionable Disrespect of Our Own

Craig Whitlock and Mary Pat Flaherty – (Washington Post) – December 7, 2011 – The Air Force dumped the incinerated partial remains of at least 274 American troops in a Virginia landfill, far more than the military had acknowledged, before halting the secretive practice three years ago, records show.

The landfill dumping was concealed from families who had authorized the military to dispose of the remains in a dignified and respectful manner, Air Force officials said. There are no plans, they said, to alert those families now.

(Read the rest of the story here…)