Investigations Multiply for Oil Giant Halliburton

[hedgetrimmer]

~SNIP~
French Judge Cites Cheney
Dems: Law Broken On Iranian Deals
By MARC PERELMAN
Mired in controversy over Iraq contracts, the giant oil services company Halliburton is being scrutinized over its business dealings in Iran and is now reportedly the subject of a French corruption investigation that could lead to charges against its former CEO, Vice President Dick Cheney.

An investigative judge in France, Renaud van Ruymbeke, is looking into allegations that a Halliburton subsidiary, Kellogg Brown & Root, the French company Technip and two other partners, bribed Nigerian officials to land a $6.7 billion contract for a liquefied natural gas project in the late 1990s. Although Van Ruymbeke has ruled out bringing bribery charges against Cheney, he said he could prosecute the vice president for complicity in the "misuse of corporate assets," according to a confidential memo cited by the French daily Le Figaro.

"These allegations are false," Wendy Hall, a Halliburton spokeswoman, told the Forward in an e-mail. "There has been no lawsuit filed and the company has not been contacted by the French authorities."

The French partner has acknowledged the existence of the probe.

Kellogg Brown & Root, or KBR, also is being investigated by the Defense Department over several alleged instances of bribery and overcharges to the U.S. government in Iraq and Kuwait. Two Democrats, New York City Comptroller William Thompson and Rep. Henry Waxman of California each told the Forward that they suspect Halliburton of violat-ing U.S. sanctions against American companies doing business with Iran — an allegation company officials vehemently deny.

... more ...

link: http://www.forward.com/issues/2004/04.02.06/news1.html

[Elidor]

1. It's not every day you learn that the Veep, in his previous job,

Approved a $180 million bribe of a foreign government for a natural gas project.

And the national media pretend the elephant isn't sitting there in the room with them.

[JoFerret]

7. And now they are claiming Cheney

is a business liability.

[dusty64]

2. Imagine if you will,

VP Gore in this position.

[JPZenger]

3. More Halliburton Scams

An Associated Press article reports that Halliburton will reimburse the Pentagon for another $11.4 million in overcharges for providing meals to the U.S. military in Iraq. This is on top of the $16 million in overcharges they had previously agreed to refund for overcharges for meals. The overcharges were detected by the Pentagon's Contract Audit Agency.

[hippiechick]

5. ... bet those auditors have been fired ... n/t

:hippie:

[pinniped]

4. POS vp has no time for a French court trial.

He has an appointment in the Netherlands.

[tabasco]

6. Cheney did his best to make this a corrupt organization.

He has been involved in crime and corruption his entire life. To have this criminal as our Vice-president is a disgrace.