Pentagon Opens Halliburton Criminal Probe

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon said on Monday it opened a criminal investigation of fraud allegations against a unit of Vice President Dick Cheney's old company Halliburton Co. including possible overpricing of fuel delivered to Iraq

The investigation was focused on Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg Brown and Root, the U.S. military's biggest contractor in Iraq, which has become a lightning rod of Democratic criticism during this presidential election year.

snip

Aside from military auditors' questions, the U.S. Treasury, the Justice Department (news - web sites) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (news - web sites) are all looking into a range of issues, from whether the company paid kickbacks in Nigeria to whether it broke U.S. laws by dealing with Iran via a foreign subsidiary.

snip

Two former Halliburton employees told Democratic lawmakers earlier this month the vice president's old company "routinely overcharged" for work it did for the U.S. military. Examples of wasteful spending given by the ex-employees ranged from leasing ordinary vehicles for $7,500 a month to seeking embroidered towels at a cost of $7.50 apiece when ordinary ones would have cost about a third as much.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=568&ncid=749&e=1&u=/nm/20040224/bs_nm/energy_halliburton_dc

This is what happens when you take language to aggressively address fraud OUT of the budget. Thanks again, Chimp.

Sure.

After all, the investigation will be run by L. Jean Lewis and if the tenacity she displayed going after the Clintons is evident, this case will be pursued as ruthlessly and atomically as possible.

</sarcasm>

Isn't Cheney smart enough to anticipate this type of thing? What gives? If you were planning to cheat the country out of billions, wouldn't you think about the possibility of a criminal probe from the Pentagon? I know I would.


Cher

on edit: could they really have been so simple minded as to think, "Let's just go grab where we can and let the chips fall where they may?"

The only thing DICK has going for him is he is able to make the
press think his ideas and policies are reasonable. When reality
is 180 degrees from dicks. This is a guy who voted against
headstart. voted against the South African boycott. Dick is
a Dick, plain and simple.

...rePub version of "validation"...

btw - great to see you! :hi:

...and same back atcha...

There was that assessment of global warming and the potential for catastrophic climate change that just came out from the Pentagon.

There have been many indications that the military doesn't like what Rumsfeld is doing to them, doesn't like the uses to which they're being put overseas, and is generally (in the politest, most patriotic manner) pissed as hell.

Investigating Halliburton might just be Pentagon shorthand for, "Time for you to get out of town, boy."

...but in a very real sense, Halliburton is not exclusively BushCo. I mean that in the sense that Halliburton has been doing very big bidnez with the US military for a long time - since LBJ hooked them up.

I dunno, does the Pentagon ever end-up filing criminal fraud charges against Grumman, etc. - their other long-time, big-money contractors? My guess is that this happens relatively infrequently.

In the meantime, while there's an investigation, BushCo can say "rumors and false allegations" and sheeple might believe - that's one of their MO's. If the situation gets sorted-out without criminal charges, BushCo can say "see, we've been validated as doing a good job...". Let's keep in mind that this is a misunderestimadministration that has no qualms about describing black as white...

There were so many people busy grabbin what they could that no one was lookin out for the cops. Just like after Enron, one asks how can such smart (though unethical and quite evil) people be so stupid? Because they were greedy. They thought the rules didn't apply to them. Well, Cheney/Halliburton, the rules DO still apply, and YOU are finding out the hard way now, aren't you?

Outasight!

monkey-boy is going down! This story won't get buried on page A18.

They don't control everything; not even close. If they did, there would never be such an investigation in the first place.

They will, of course, seek to compromise the investigation.

I have friends who work with the government's procurement process. It is very cut and dried. There are processes and procedures. There are a skazillion people who monitor the process. There aren't even any "creative thinkers" who will deviate from the prescribed procedure.

That is why I posted what I did above. Wouldn't you think about this if you were planning a heist of this magnitude?


Cher

to happen. This is just to make it look like they are "trying to get to the bottom of it". It will be just like all the other "investigations". Media will drop it it, so will the "investigators".

If it's true. If not, f**k it.

good name?