The art of decadence and decay & other news
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Innospec Agent Sentenced to 30 Months in Prison for Bribing Iraqi Officials and Paying Kickbacks Under the U.N. Oil for Food Program
(DoJ) – WASHINGTON – December 22, 2011 – A former agent for Innospec Inc., a U.S. company, was sentenced today to 30 months in prison and ordered to pay a $250,000 fine for his participation in a conspiracy to defraud the United Nations Oil for Food Program (OFFP) and to bribe former Iraqi government officials in connection with the sale of a chemical additive used in the refining of leaded fuel, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division.
Ousama Naaman, 62, of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, was indicted on Aug. 7, 2008, in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Superseding charges were filed on June 24, 2010. Naaman was arrested on July 30, 2009, in Frankfurt, Germany, and extradited to the United States. He pleaded guilty on June 25, 2010, to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and falsify the books and records of a U.S. issuer, and one count of violating the FCPA.
Naaman and his companies were the Iraqi agents of Innospec Inc. On March 18, 2010, Innospec pleaded guilty to a 12-count indictment charging wire fraud in connection with its payment of kickbacks to the Iraqi government under the OFFP, as well as FCPA violations in connection with bribe payments it made to officials in the Iraqi Ministry of Oil. (Click HERE for article)
Aecom Joint Venture Wins Large Navy Contract
Deborah Crowe – (Los Angeles Business Journal) – December 22, 2011 – Aecom Technology Corp. and Shaw Group Inc. said that their joint venture, Pacific Contingency Services LLC, was among six defense contractors awarded a large U.S. Navy contract. The contractors will compete for up to $900 million in project orders from the Naval Facilities Engineering Command-Pacific.
The contract is similar to one that Aecom and Shaw’s Atlantic Contingency Constructors LLC joint venture has with the Navy to address its global construction needs. It has a one-year base period and four option years.
The contractors will provide services in response to natural disasters, humanitarian efforts and military actions around the world.
Aecom of Los Angeles is an engineering firm that provides technical and management support. The Shaw Group is based in Baton Rouge, La. (Click HERE for article)
Afghan guard who killed U.S. soldiers was fired earlier
(Times & Transcript) – December 22, 2011 – A private Canadian security contractor guarding a U.S. army base near Kandahar fired, then re-hired, an Afghan man who went on to attack a group of unarmed American soldiers inside the military compound, killing two and wounding four.
The deadly rampage by the Afghan employee of Toronto-based Tundra Strategies occurred in March at the Canadian-built Forward Operating Base Frontenac, but details of the attack – which ended when the rogue security guard was killed by return fire from U.S. troops – have only emerged this week.
The key finding in a newly released U.S. army probe of the attack is that Tundra officials had fired the Afghan man from another base in July 2010 after receiving unconfirmed reports that he had talked about killing coalition soldiers.
The army report, dated April 14, found that the guard, Shir Ahmed, had been re-hired in March after Tundra failed to properly document the 2010 firing and because of “vague and confusing” vetting protocols within the U.S. military.
The delayed release of the report and its startling findings have angered Rep. Buck McKeon, a powerful California congressman who heads the U.S. House Armed Services Committee. One of the soldiers killed in the attack – 19-year-old army medic Rudy Acosta – was from McKeon’s congressional district, and the Republican legislator is demanding answers about the delayed disclosure of the investigation summary and calling for a broader probe of the use of private security contractors by the U.S. military. (Click HERE for article)
Lawsuit claims contractor defrauded Defense Department
(Pittsburgh Tribune-Review) – December 21, 2011 – Companies in Florida and Iowa used a Neville Township address as part of a scheme to sell the U.S. Department of Defense Chinese-manufactured automotive supplies as American-made goods, according to a federal lawsuit unsealed Tuesday.
Donald Smith of Burgettstown says in the lawsuit that he was an independent contractor for Progressive Holdings LLC, a company set up by businessman Scott Eppinga of Rock Valley, Iowa, to obtain defense contracts. Another of Eppinga’s businesses, Power Products Supply Corp. of Rock Valley, and D&D International Corp. of Miami conspired to import rivets and other Chinese goods, using Progressive Holdings and fake invoices to make them look like domestic products, the lawsuit claims. (Click HERE for article)
Is the government reimbursing companies facing legal actions by whistleblowers?
Joe Davidson – (Washington Post) – December 21, 2011 – Remember the story about Walt Tamosaitis, the federal contractor consigned to a basement office after detailing safety and technical issues with the Energy Department’s Hanford Waste Treatment Plant in southeastern Washington state?
This month, when he told a Senate subcommittee about the troubles his whistleblowing generated, he said that Bechtel Corp., the prime contractor on the nuclear waste job, was being reimbursed by Energy for the company’s defense against legal action by Tamosaitis.
At the hearing, he said he “learned that in the [Department of Energy] contracting world, the legal costs incurred by the companies are reimbursed by the DOE. Since this is taxpayer money, I began to feel that I was battling myself. It is unclear to me that if a company loses a retaliation case, whether they have to pay DOE back for the funds they received. Further complicating it, if the company chooses to settle but admits no guilt, it appears they do not have to pay DOE back for any of the legal costs. I felt like everything was stacked to support the companies.”
This raises an important question. Should the federal government pay to defend a company against whistleblowers whose actions might well be in the best interests of taxpayers?
The inquiring mind of Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) wants to know. (Click HERE for article)
Florida-Based Defense Contractor Pays US $4.75 Million to Resolve Allegations Related to Defective Bomb Fuzes
Sold to the Army for Bunkerbuster Bombs
(DoJ) – WASHINGTON – December 21, 2011 – Kaman Precision Products Inc., an Orlando, Fla., defense contractor, will pay the United States $4.75 million to resolve allegations that the company submitted false claims for non-conforming fuzes sold to the U.S. Army for use in “bunkerbuster” bombs, the Justice Department announced today. In addition, the settlement requires Kaman to adhere to a compliance program and to dismiss administrative claims that it had made against the Army after the termination of its contract.
The lawsuit, filed in the Middle District of Florida by the United States under the False Claims Act for breach of contract, alleged that the company knowingly substituted a component in four lots of fuzes that made them unsafe for use in military operations. Specifically, the United States’ allegations relate to FMU-143 fuzes for use in hard target penetration warheads, colloquially referred to as “bunkerbuster” bombs.
The government alleged that Kaman knowingly substituted non-conforming bellows motors for the specified motors in four lots of fuzes supplied to the military, and that the non-conforming parts could cause the fuzes to fire prematurely, creating a hazard for military personnel and causing misfires of the warheads. The military discovered the parts substitution and quarantined the defective fuzes. (Click HERE for article)
IG: VA structured $133 million security contract to favor incumbent
Bob Brewin – (Nextgov) – December 21, 2011 – The Veterans Affairs Department structured the requirements for a 2010 information security contract to give the incumbent a leg up, VA’s inspector general found in a report released Wednesday.
The Office of Acquisition, Logistics and Construction used a technical evaluation process for the Sept. 28, 2010, award that favored “the incumbent, Booz Allen Hamilton, based on its performance as the VA’s Information Assurance and Information Technology contractor,” the IG said.
Booz Allen submitted a $133 million bid for providing support services to the chief information security officer, 22 percent above the least expensive competing proposal of $108.9 million and 16 percent higher than the other bid of $115 million, auditors said. (Click HERE for article)
Coast Guard Cutters Rust Away, Break Down
Andrea Stone – (Huffington Post) – BALTIMORE – December 21, 2011 – Cmdr. William Lane climbs down a steep ladder deep within the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Bear.
Stepping over a pipe with paint blistered and bubbled by rust, the commanding officer ducks into a narrow storage area beside the hull and shines a flashlight into a dark corner mottled with rust, the smell of corroded iron mingling with diesel fuel and saltwater.
“I’m not sure how far into the hull plating it goes,” Lane says as he peers into the void two feet below the cutter’s waterline.
No water can seep in now. The 270-foot Bear has been in dry-dock at the Coast Guard Yard here since October, where it is undergoing a $10 million overhaul scheduled to last until May. When it was launched in 1980, the first of a class of medium-endurance cutters (WMEC) designed for search-and-rescue and law enforcement, the Bear was built to last 30 years. Now officials are counting on repairs and upgrades to give it another 10, maybe 15, years on patrol from its base in Portsmouth, Va. (Click HERE for article)
Coos Bay Company, Its Owner and Six Employees Indicted for Fraud on Defense Contracts
(DoJ) – EUGENE, Ore. – December 20, 2011 - A Coos Bay business, its owner, and six employees were arraigned in federal court today on an indictment returned by a federal grand jury on December 14, 2011. The indictment alleges that Kustom Products, Inc. (KPI), a vehicle parts supply business located in Coos Bay, Oregon, its owner, and six employees committed fraud on contracts with the United States Department of Defense (DoD) valued at over $7.5 million. The indicted owner is Harold Ray Bettencourt II. The indicted employees are Bettencourt’s former wife (Kathy Sue Bettencourt), three of his sons (Harold Ray Bettencourt III [Bo], Nicholas Ryan Bettencourt and Peter Tracy Bettencourt), his office manager (Margo Antonette Densmore), and his purchasing agent (Joshua Lee Kemp). The indictment alleges that KPI, Bettencourt, and the others committed wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, fraud involving aircraft parts, money laundering, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. It also alleges that all proceeds traceable to the fraud are to be forfeited including $365,503.26 in funds from 20 bank accounts, eight vehicles, one boat, two boat trailers, two jet skis, and three all-terrain vehicles.
Harold Ray Bettencourt II, 57, lives in Coos Bay, Oregon; Kathy Sue Bettencourt, 54, resides in Myrtle Point, Oregon; Bo Bettencourt, 31, Nicholas Ryan Bettencourt, 29, and Peter Tracy Bettencourt, 25, all reside in North Bend, Oregon. Margo Antonette Densmore, 40, and Joshua Lee Kemp, 37, are from Coos Bay, Oregon.
The indictment alleges that KPI and a predecessor business, Southern Oregon Sterling Parts and Service (SOS), provided nonconforming, defective and counterfeit products to the DoD for the purpose of increasing their profit margin. It alleges that KPI and SOS committed fraud on at least 392 contracts resulting in payments of $7,523,406.59. (Click HERE for article)
U.S. v. BUCZKOWSKI
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee,v.DANIEL NICHOLAS BUCZKOWSKI, Defendant-Appellant.
No. 09-4938.
United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.
Argued: September 20, 2011. – Decided: December 20, 2011.
Daniel Buczkowski was convicted of one count of possessing child pornography, see 18 U.S.C. § 2252(a)(4)(B), and twenty-seven counts of transportation of child pornography in interstate or foreign commerce, see 18 U.S.C. § 2252(a)(1). Buczkowski appeals, challenging the convictions and sentences imposed on the transportation counts only. While we find the government’s evidence sufficient to establish that Buczkowski transported child pornography, that evidence established only a single act of transportation. Accordingly, we affirm the conviction and sentence on the first transportation count, vacate the remaining transportation convictions and sentences, and remand for resentencing.
After retiring from the Army, Buczkowski went to work as a truck driver for Kellogg, Brown & Root (“KBR”), a military contractor. Buczkowski worked for KBR in Iraq from November 2004 through February 2006 and from December 10, 2006 through March 29, 2007. Buczkowski had a password-protected laptop computer that he used at home and took with him to Iraq. The evidence presented at trial established that when he was in Iraq, his computer was often in a shared lounge space and was sometimes used by people other than Buczkowski.
Buczkowski was injured on March 21, 2007. He was sent to a clinic in Kuwait for medical evaluation, where it was determined that he should return to the United States for treatment. Buczkowski left from Kuwait, without returning to the base in Iraq, and arrived in Fayetteville, North Carolina, on March 29, 2007. KBR later shipped Buczkowski’s personal effects to him; the shipment arrived around the first week of May 2007.
On May 8, 2007, Buczkowski took his laptop to be repaired. While repairing the computer, the technician found child pornography on the computer and called the police. Twenty-seven images qualifying as child pornography were found on the computer, all of which had been loaded onto the computer on January 4, 2007, when Buczkowski was in Iraq. Buczkowski was indicted on one count of possession of child pornography and twenty-seven counts (one for each image) of transportation of child pornography… (Click HERE for article)
Siemens hires ex-US commander in Afghanistan
- Stanley McChyrstal to head new Siemens unit
- Unit aims to win U.S. government contracts
- ex-Army Lieutenant, ex-execs of Lockheed, GE also to join
(Reuters) – FRANKFURT – December 19, 2011 – Germany’s Siemens named Stanley McChrystal, a former commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, to head a new unit aimed at winning U.S. government contracts.
The appointment of McChrystal, who was fired by President Barack Obama last year after he made disparaging remarks in a magazine interview, comes at a time when Siemens is eager to improve relations with Washington D.C. following a bribery scandal settled in 2008.
McChrystal, a retired four-star general in the United States Army, will become chairman of the board of directors at Siemens Government Technologies, Siemens said in a statement on Monday.
He will be joined by former U.S. Army Lieutenant General John Sylvester and retired Lockheed Martin and General Electric executive Robert Coutts, who will serve as board members, Siemens said. (Click HERE for article)
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Monday, December 26th 2011 at 1:42 pm |
While the Department of Justice is putting away the little guys, you have to wonder how many Kuwait companies were selling Iraq’s oil and profiting. Perhaps an Al Sabah or 2 – especially when you look at how many MPs were just paid off in order that they don’t grill one of their own family. Is it possible that once again – only Americans are being charged while the foreign company owners are walking off and starting night clubs in Lebanon.
Monday, December 26th 2011 at 1:55 pm |
I have asked my Congressman and Senators to declare war on Pakistan – have you.
I get the General who ordered 15,000 cans of shaving cream an atta boy and a medal. Make all the bastards shave their beards off.
This is no time to let up on killing Taliban and every other conservative in Afghanistan and Pakistan. It is time to kill more of them. The place we put Bin Ladin has more room. Oh yea – Merry Christmas Taliban. Maybe Santa will put a .50 Cal up your ass and a few .223s in your head like your buddy Bin Laden. This year – Santa’s flying an Apache and an A-10.