Ex-Official: $9 Billion in Iraq Reconstruction Funds Lost to Fraud

[RamboLiberal]

Source: Washington Post

A former top Iraqi official told U.S. senators today that roughly $9 billion in American money meant for reconstruction projects was involved in waste, fraud and abuse.

Salom Adhoob, a former chief investigator at Iraq's Commission on Public Integrity -- which is considered the equivalent of the FBI in the United States -- said at a hearing of the Democratic Policy Committee today that he and his agency had done investigations showing the money was misused in fraud and abuse. In one case, he said the Iraqi Ministry of Defense helped create front companies to funnel the money.

Adhoob said that at the Iraqi Ministry of Defense, some Iraqi officials got kickbacks in contracts to buy such things as bulletproof vests and Humvees. Some of the deals, he said, involved U.S. contractors, and the equipment often didn't arrive or was damaged.

In other instances, U.S. reconstruction projects "never existed" or were poorly built or incomplete. He said in one case $24.4 million was spent on an electricity project that "existed only on paper."

Adhoob also said that Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki blocked corruption investigations into kickbacks that benefited Iraqi officials and that U.S. officials in Iraq "turned a blind eye" when told of the problems with U.S. funds.



Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/22/AR2008092202053.html?hpid=topnews

[Binka]

1. Surprise! NOT!

Fucking thieves.

[stillcool]

2. chump change

[The_Casual_Observer]

3. The entire amount of money spent on the Iraq war was lost to fraud,

[4lbs]

4. Wait! What? I thought everything going on in Iraq was fully legitimate and above board.

:sarcasm:

[curious one]

5. Just thinking how that money would have been cured some our infrastructure and programs.

But ...

[scarface2004]

6. only 9 billion?!?!?

not bad considering john mkane is a fucking asshole!!!

[MetaTrope]

7. Is this another $9 billion, or the $9 billion that was reported a few years back

You know, those massive pallets of shrinkwrapped cash that somehow went missing after they were airlifted to Iraq?

[bluesmail]

8. You're on the right track. Keep pushing for WHERE the

money ended up. Shouldn't be hard to >>'mention'>>>

[HopeHoops]

9. Well, that $9b is a drop in the bucket compared to the $700b Wall St. fraud!

[sabra]

10. WP now says 13 billion....

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/22/AR2008092202053.html