Bypassing the DCAA - Serco and KBR's Iraq Contracts
Congressional investigators would be well-advised to turn their sights on this part of Army whistleblower Charles M. Smith's story on how the Army refused to hold KBR accountable and then did an endrun on the Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA), which had found significant problems with KBR, by privatizing oversight of KBR:
Soon after Mr. Smith was replaced, the Army hired a contractor, RCI Holding Corporation, to review KBR’s costs. “They came up with estimates, using very weak data from KBR,” Mr. Smith said. “They ignored D.C.A.A.’s auditors,” he said, referring to the Defense Contract Audit Agency.
Lt. Col. Brian Maka, a Pentagon spokesman, disputed that. He said in a statement that the Army auditing agency “does not believe that RCI was used to circumvent” the Army audits.
Paul Heagen, a spokesman for RCI’s parent company, the Serco Group, said his firm had insisted on working with the Army auditors. While KBR did not provide all of the data Mr. Smith had been seeking, Mr. Heagen said his company had used “best practices” and sound methodology to determine KBR’s costs.
more:
http://pogoblog.typepad.com/pogo/2008/06/bypassing-the-d.html