DU Googlers, Help needed now! Truth or baloney?

[elehhhhna]

From Randi Rhodes message board:

Ah, gotta love the Carlyle group.
I used to work for a government agency that was turned into a private corporation, only to have the CG come along and buy them a few years later. I left when the work product started to suffer. The agency turned private that it was...The Office of Personnel Management. You say, "who". The agency that is responsible for granting security clearances and investigations of government employees. No big deal, right? What harm could be done by determining who gets security clearances. At least the CG now lists "SOME" of their holdings and their board members on their website. It's an interesting read and quite a puzzle. Go to their site and play "connect the scary dots" sometime.

Peace
sgd

Post #8, here:
http://forums.therandirhodesshow.com/index.php?showtopic=99958&st=0

[cautiouslywaiting]

1. hmm...

Who's in charge of the Carlyle group?

[htuttle]

3. Poppy Bush, Jim Baker, the Bin Laden family, etc...

Basically, the 'usual suspects'. Probably Keyser Soze, too.

[Ellis Wyatt]

5. the partners

It's a private equity firm owned by the partners. Three of the founders own about 50% of the firm's $45B in estimated value.

[elehhhhna]

9. lol. Dubai just bought a stake in CG, and CG's a finalist in the Dubai US Ports RESALE!

HOLY SMOKES!

[elehhhhna]

10. link, please? WHere'd that "50%" stat come from pls.?

[Ellis Wyatt]

11. sorry

I didn't get it from a specific source, I worked in the investment community a few years ago and that was my understanding of what the three (remaining) founders owned approximately 50% of the company between them. And the last I checked, Carlysle had about $40B in investments

[davidinalameda]

2. don't think that's true

I just went to their website and the head of the office is a Bush appointee

[elehhhhna]

4. MORE from the same source:

The investigative arm of OPM was privatized in 1996 and became the company known as USIS (US Investigative Services). The company then acted as a private contractor and "bid" for jobs such as those they completed when they were government employees. Since they had been the ones doing the job, they were the only ones able to do the job and were awarded the "bids" every year. In 2000- 2001 after grooming and shaping the company from the inside through the manipulating of the president of the company, the CG bought a majority of the company that was controled by an employee stock plan. This made the president of the company, a former government employee, very rich. He was also given a "decorative seat" on the CG's board of director's. We used to laugh about the "decorative seat" because, he was not allowed to vote or act in the CG's meetings. He was efectively bought off.

To answer your second question, "yes" the investigative arm of OPM is owned (a majority of) and controlled by the CG. The CG could not control a government agency so they waited until it was privatized, made sure that it was awarded contracts, and then bought a controlling interest. I myself had cases pushed through without review after CG managers took control. I left not too long after that.

Please feel free to ask if you have any other questions about the CG that a former insider could address.

http://forums.therandirhodesshow.com/index.php?s=2d75373824b8f986493c47547ff200e7&showtopic=99958&st=20

[itsmesgd]

13. source here

I'm the source of the info from randi's message board. if you have any questions, go ahead.

[AnneD]

6. We have been tracking the Carlyl Group

on the Stock Watch Thread for some time now. Nefarious to say the least.

[mzteris]

7. USIS

USIS History . . .Formation of USIS
On July 8, 1996, USIS was formed on the initiative of the President and Congress as an employee-owned company. USIS is steeped in the tradition of providing high-quality, timely investigative services to its customers. Today, USIS is the industry leader in employment background and drug screening, the largest supplier of background investigations to the U.S. government, the pre-eminent supplier of national security and administrative staffing support, the foremost international security training provider, and the recognized leading resource for business information and due diligence services.


Our Investors

Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe
Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe (WCAS) is one of the oldest, largest and most successful private equity investment firms in the United States. Since their founding in 1979, they have organized 12 partnerships with total capital of $12 billion and are currently investing WCAS IX and WCAS Capital Partners III.

Unlike other large private equity firms, their investment activities are exclusively focused in three industries: information services, communications and healthcare.
Visit Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe


The Carlyle Group
Established in 1987, The Carlyle Group is a private global investment firm that originates, structures and acts as lead equity investor in management-led buyouts, strategic minority equity investments, equity private placements, consolidations and buildups, and growth capital financings. Since its inception, the firm has invested more than $7.2 billion of equity in 263 corporate and real estate transactions with an aggregate acquisition value of over $19 billion. As of September 30, 2002, the firm had more than $13.9 billion of committed capital under management.

Carlyle's extensive transaction experience and network of global partners are sources of corporate opportunities unparalleled in the private equity investment community. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the firm serves a diverse base of more than 550 investors in 55 countries worldwide.



more on "what" USIS does


Company Overview
Superior intelligence gathered by seasoned professionals is the core competency of USIS. We provide due diligence and risk management solutions, security and related professional services, and a broad range of expert staffing and critical programs support for institutions, commercial businesses, and federal agencies.

USIS is the largest supplier of background investigations to the federal government and the preeminent source for background and drug screening services. In addition, we offer the most comprehensive technology resources for commercial clients nationwide. USIS Global Services operates from locations here and abroad and provides operational support and training assistance in response to security challenges to U.S. government and commercial interests worldwide. USIS has a rich tradition of helping clients feel safe with their hiring and business decisions. Formerly the Office of Federal Investigations (a U.S. government agency), USIS was created when the agency was privatized in 1996. The company's operations center located 220 feet underground in a limestone mine also used to store sensitive federal government records, is the heart of the nation's largest investigations and support services company in America. Today, USIS completes more than two million cases annually.

USIS continually develops and employs secure yet flexible technology designed to interface with our customers' business systems. This not only assures timely pass-through of information, but also generates greater efficiencies in the decision-making process for maximum customer satisfaction. At USIS, our national and global customer partnerships enable our clients to reach their business goals.

[elehhhhna]

8. Thanks. Here's MORE. Looks like this rumor is TRUE.

The acquired company, U.S. Investigations Services (USIS), used to be a federal agency. In 1996, 700 employees of the Office of Federal Investigations, which conducted background investigations for most civilian agencies, left the government and became employee-owners of USIS. They received shares in USIS that accrued value based on employees' length of service and the company's financial performance. And USIS performed exceptionally well. The company has grown year after year, aided greatly by an exclusive contract it landed in 1996 - without competition - to perform background investigations and related work for its former parent agency, the Office of Personnel Management. Hundreds of thousands of requests for background investigations arrive at OPM each year, many of them requiring face-to-face interviews with a security clearance applicant's friends, family and co-workers. The requests come from agencies seeking clearances for their employees or contractors.

Demand for security clearances has skyrocketed, producing a similar explosion in requests for background investigations. In fiscal 2002, OPM received almost 2 million requests for investigations and checks of financial and employment histories and other records. That was an increase of nearly 90 percent from the previous fiscal year. The vast majority of the work is handled by USIS, according to an OPM official who asked not to be identified.

The acquired company, U.S. Investigations Services (USIS), used to be a federal agency. In 1996, 700 employees of the Office of Federal Investigations, which conducted background investigations for most civilian agencies, left the government and became employee-owners of USIS. They received shares in USIS that accrued value based on employees' length of service and the company's financial performance. And USIS performed exceptionally well. The company has grown year after year, aided greatly by an exclusive contract it landed in 1996 - without competition - to perform background investigations and related work for its former parent agency, the Office of Personnel Management. Hundreds of thousands of requests for background investigations arrive at OPM each year, many of them requiring face-to-face interviews with a security clearance applicant's friends, family and co-workers. The requests come from agencies seeking clearances for their employees or contractors.

Demand for security clearances has skyrocketed, producing a similar explosion in requests for background investigations. In fiscal 2002, OPM received almost 2 million requests for investigations and checks of financial and employment histories and other records. That was an increase of nearly 90 percent from the previous fiscal year. The vast majority of the work is handled by USIS, according to an OPM official who asked not to be identified.

http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=25830&printerfriendlyVers=1&

[slipslidingaway]

12. USIS sounded familiar from this story FWIW.

snip>>

http://leiterreports.typepad.com/blog/2005/12/philosophersold.html

Col. Ted Westhusing was found dead in a trailer at a military base near the Baghdad airport, a single gunshot wound to the head.

The Army would conclude that he committed suicide with his service pistol. At the time, he was the highest-ranking officer to die in Iraq....

Col. Westhusing was no ordinary officer. He was one of the Army's leading scholars of military ethics, a full professor at West Point who volunteered to serve in Iraq to be able to better teach his students. He had a doctorate in philosophy; his dissertation was an extended meditation on the meaning of honor.


Westhusing's task was to oversee a private security company, Virginia-based USIS, which had contracts worth $79 million to train a corps of Iraqi police to conduct special operations.