Justice: Iraq Fraud Can Be Tried in U.S.

WASHINGTON -- Contractors for the former Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq can be sued in U.S. courts under an anti-war-profiteering law, the Justice Department contended in a federal case Friday.

Government lawyers said the federal False Claims Act applies to contracts issued by the CPA, which ran Iraq from shortly after the 2003 invasion until it handed over power to an interim Iraqi government last June.

Although much of the money the CPA used was seized from the former government of Saddam Hussein, U.S. government or military workers distributed it, making fraud against the CPA equal to fraud against the U.S., a group of Justice Department lawyers said in a court brief.

The brief came in response to a judge hearing a fraud lawsuit against the security firm Custer Battles LLC. Two former employees are suing Custer Battles, saying the firm fleeced the CPA out of about $50 million. The company denies any wrongdoing.

Custer Battles has argued that it cannot be sued in the U.S. for actions involving the use of seized Iraqi funds. Lawyers for both Custer Battles and its former employees said U.S. officials originally had declined to take the case against Custer Battles for the same reason.........MORE..........

http://www.newsday.com/news/politics/wire/sns-ap-iraq-contract-fraud,0,1924006.story?coll=sns-ap-politics-headlines

This is good news indeed. There are war criminals and profiteers in this administration that need to be prosecuted.
:bounce:

Really, that's what the Repukes will say. This Schiavo mess has opened a big can of worms that are still spilling everywhere.

dollars can actually be sued in the US!!

Damned amazing.....