Treasury reconsiders legality of Halliburton's work in Iran (Violations)

[Whoa_Nelly]

WASHINGTON -- The Treasury Department is raising new questions about whether Halliburton, the oil services giant once headed by Vice President Dick Cheney, violated the federal law barring U.S. companies from doing business with Iran.

In a notice to the Securities and Exchange Commission, Halliburton disclosed that Treasury's Office of Foreign Asset Control last month reopened a 2001 inquiry that centered on the legality of the business dealings between Iran and a Halliburton subsidiary incorporated in the Cayman Islands.

Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D- N.J.), an advocate of the Iranian trade-sanctions program, said a key question for Treasury is whether Halliburton improperly used a foreign subsidiary to evade the law that is aimed at penalizing Iran as a state sponsor of terrorism. He said it is also important to find out if any violations occurred during the 1995 to 2000 period when Cheney headed the company.

<snip>
"I think the evidence here is pretty clear that steps were taken to evade the law, but the more disturbing question is how long has this been going on?" said Lautenberg.

more...
http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/index.ssf?/base/news-13/107648379987090.xml