Waxman: Halliburton Overcharges Top $212 Million

[paineinthearse]

DOD Audits: Halliburton Overcharges Top $212 Million

http://democrats.reform.house.gov/story.asp?bolSupressHeaders=1&ID=823

Last month, Rep. Waxman disclosed that Defense Department auditors found $108 million in fuel-related overcharges by Halliburton for work in Iraq under Task Order 5, one of several Halliburton task orders for the importation of fuel into Iraq. Rep. Waxman also revealed that although Halliburton was paid in significant part from Iraqi oil proceeds in the Development Fund for Iraq (DFI), the Administration — acting at Halliburton’s request — concealed these overcharges from the international auditors charged by the United Nations with monitoring the expenditures from the DFI. Links: http://www.democrats.reform.house.gov/story.asp?ID=811 & http://www.democrats.reform.house.gov/story.asp?ID=812

The Committee on Government Reform's National Security Subcommittee recently obtained additional audits of Halliburton's Iraqi oil reconstruction work under Task Orders 5 through 10 that show that that both the amount of Halliburton's overcharges and the extent of the information withheld from the auditors at the International Advisory and Monitoring Board (IAMB) are much greater than previously known.

In these new reports, DCAA auditors identify overcharges and question costs of $212.3 million, doubling the total amount of known overcharges under Halliburton's Iraq oil contract. In one case, the overcharges exceeded 47% of the total value of the task order. The reports reveal that, as with the withholding of the Task Order 5 audit, extensive additional information has been withheld by the Administration from the IAMB. A review of these audits shows that references to overcharges and other questioned costs were blacked out over 450 times in the versions of audits sent to the IAMB.

In a letter sent today to National Security Subcommittee Chairman Shays, Rep. Waxman renewed his request that the Subcommittee hold hearings on the Administration's mismanagement of the Development Fund for Iraq.

Letter to National Security Subcommittee Chairman Shays - http://democrats.reform.house.gov/Documents/20050412154646-00664.pdf

[whistle]

1. That must be Dick Cheney's cut

[Roland99]

2. How much body armor and Humvee armor will $212 million buy?

[LizW]

3. I expect to see Dick Cheney in prison in my lifetime

This unprecedented looting of a national treasury cannot go unpunished if the United States is to survive.

If you had to point to one person who was most responsible for the distortion and cherry-picking of intelligence in order to go to war against Iraq, that person would be Cheney.

If you were able to follow the trail of the no-bid contracts to the person who was most instrumental in securing such incredibly lucrative deals for Halliburton, that person would be Cheney.

There is a clear and direct link between Halliburton's profits and compensation, plus increased value of stock options, to Cheney.

I think you would have to look to third world dictatorships or even back to the Roman emperors to find comparable criminal abuse of power for personal enrichment.

It may not happen any time soon, but it will happen. Dick Cheney will die is prison, folks. Mark my words.