Several other former Republican officials have come under
investigation in connection with other Iraq contracts.
The Pentagon's inspector general has asked the FBI to look into a
deputy undersecretary of defense in connection with a police radio
contract.
A former top Republican official in the Transportation Department was
investigated in connection with an airport contract, U.S. officials
have said.
Custer Battles was a newly formed company with no experience in the
security industry when it landed one of the first contracts issued in
Iraq in the spring of 2003 to secure the airport.
The no-bid contract was worth $16 million when it was awarded in the
chaos after the fall of Saddam Hussein.
From The Seattle Times, 10/9/04:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2002058470_contract09.html
Contractor accused of fraud in Iraq
By T. Christian Miller
Los Angeles Times
WASHINGTON --
One of the U.S. security companies operating in Iraq has been
suspended from doing business with the U.S. government after being
accused of overbilling millions of dollars through a series of sham
companies.
Security company Custer Battles sent fake bills to the U.S.-financed
Coalition Provisional Authority, which ran Iraq under American
occupation, according to a U.S. Air Force memo obtained by the Los
Angeles Times.
The company, which provided security at the Baghdad airport, is also
the target of a suit unsealed yesterday accusing it of systematically
bilking U.S. taxpayers and threatening a worker and his 14-year-old
son at gunpoint.
The Air Force suspension is believed to be one of the first leveled by
the federal government against a company for problems with its
operations in Iraq, contracting experts said.
The company is also under investigation by the FBI and the Pentagon
Inspector General's Defense Criminal Investigative Services, the memo
said.
It could not be immediately determined yesterday whether those
investigations were ongoing.
Richard Sauber, a lawyer representing Custer Battles, denied the
charges.
He blamed a competitor and a disgruntled former employer for making
false accusations.
The company's founders are Scott Custer, a former Army Ranger and
defense consultant, and former CIA officer Michael Battles, who ran
for Congress in Rhode Island in 2002 and was defeated in the
Republican primary.
The Federal Election Commission fined Battles for misrepresenting
campaign contributions.
Battles is a Fox News Channel commentator.
___________________________________________________________
A Fox News Channel commentator, eh?
Harry
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