Three Army reserve officers and a US contractor were indicted on Wednesday as part of a bid-rigging scam that steered millions of dollars of Iraq reconstruction projects to a contractor in exchange for cash, luxury cars, jewelry and other pricey goods.
The husband of one of the military officials also was charged with helping to smuggle at least US$10,000 into the US that the couple used to pay for improvements to their house.
The scam was outlined in a 25-count indictment filed on Wednesday in US District Court in the state of New Jersey.
The three US Army Reserve officers were responsible for helping to supervise how the US-managed Coalition Provisional Authority spent an estimated US$26 billion available for reconstruction projects in Iraq. They were in those posts in 2003 and 2004.
The indictment says the three officers -- Colonel Curtis Whiteford, Lieutenant Colonel Debra Harrison and Lieutenant Colonel Michael Wheeler -- directed at least US$8 million to a construction and services company. In return, they allegedly demanded cash, a Nissan sports car, a Cadillac SUV, real estate, a Breitling watch, business-class plane tickets and other items.
The contractor, identified in the indictment as Seymour Morris Jr, allegedly acted as a go-between for the military officers and the construction company by illegally wiring money and securing the goods. Morris is a US citizen who lived in Romania, and owned and operated a Cyprus-based financial services business.
Last week, a former Pentagon contractor was sentenced to nine years in prison for helping steer millions in Iraq rebuilding funds to a company operated by US citizen and businessman Philip Bloom. Bloom already has pleaded guilty to the scam and awaits sentencing.
Wednesday's indictments were announced the day after House Democrats grilled the former US occupation chief in Iraq over how he doled out up to US$12 billion in Iraqi money without accounting for it.
Firing back in a House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform hearing on Tuesday, Paul Bremer insisted that he did the best he could in the middle of a war and repeatedly said he had spent Iraqi -- not US -- money. Bremer ran the country for 14 months.
CHAGOS ISLANDS: Recently elected Mauritian Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam told lawmakers that the contents of negotiations are ‘unknown’ to the government Mauritius’ new prime minister ordered an independent review of a deal with the UK involving a strategically important US-UK military base in the Indian Ocean, placing the agreement under fresh scrutiny. Under a pact signed last month, the UK ceded sovereignty of the Chagos archipelago to Mauritius, while retaining control of Diego Garcia — the island where the base is situated. The deal was signed by then-Mauritian prime minister Pravind Jugnauth and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Oct. 3 — a month before elections in Mauritius in which Navin Ramgoolam became premier. “I have asked for an independent review of the
France on Friday showed off to the world the gleaming restored interior of Notre-Dame cathedral, a week before the 850-year-old medieval edifice reopens following painstaking restoration after the devastating 2019 fire. French President Emmanuel Macron conducted an inspection of the restoration, broadcast live on television, saying workers had done the “impossible” by healing a “national wound” after the fire on April 19, 2019. While every effort has been made to remain faithful to the original look of the cathedral, an international team of designers and architects have created a luminous space that has an immediate impact on the visitor. The floor shimmers and
THIRD IN A ROW? An expert said if the report of a probe into the defense official is true, people would naturally ask if it would erode morale in the military Chinese Minister of National Defense Dong Jun (董軍) has been placed under investigation for corruption, a report said yesterday, the latest official implicated in a crackdown on graft in the country’s military. Citing current and former US officials familiar with the situation, British newspaper the Financial Times said that the investigation into Dong was part of a broader probe into military corruption. Neither the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs nor the Chinese embassy in Washington replied to a request for confirmation yesterday. If confirmed, Dong would be the third Chinese defense minister in a row to fall under investigation for corruption. A former navy
‘VIOLATIONS OF DISCIPLINE’: Miao Hua has come up through the political department in the military and he was already fairly senior before Xi Jinping came to power in 2012 A member of China’s powerful Central Military Commission has been suspended and put under investigation, the Chinese Ministry of National Defense said on Thursday. Miao Hua (苗華) was director of the political work department on the commission, which oversees the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), the world’s largest standing military. He was one of five members of the commission in addition to its leader, Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). Ministry spokesman Colonel Wu Qian (吳謙) said Miao is under investigation for “serious violations of discipline,” which usually alludes to corruption. It is the third recent major shakeup for China’s defense establishment. China in June
RSS