Justice Department Negligence Could Cost Taxpayers Billions
The Justice Department has chosen not to pursue at least 10 cases of alleged fraud in Iraq contracts, which could be costing American taxpayers millions, if not billions, of dollars. According to a story in the Boston Globe today:
The Justice Department has opted out of at least 10 whistle-blower lawsuits alleging fraud and corruption in government reconstruction and security contracts in Iraq, and has spent years investigating additional fraud cases but has yet to try to recover any money.
Last year, lawsuits under the False Claims Act, which is used to recover money defrauded from the federal government, returned more than $3 billion in domestic cases--but has returned only $6.1 million from private contractors in Iraq since the war began.
According to Alan Grayson, a lawyer who testified yesterday before a subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security, the Justice Department has been stonewalling the cases.
"In our fifth year in the war in Iraq, the Bush administration has not litigated a single case against any war profiteer under the False Claims Act," Grayson said.
Since 2003, the government has relied on private contractors in Iraq like Halliburton to provide everything from meals for the troops to laundry services to armed security for visiting officials.
But records show millions, if not billions, of dollars paid to these contractors are not accounted for.
Patrick Burns, director of communications for Taxpayers Against Fraud, said that without intervention by the Justice Department:
"that isn't much of an incentive not to steal. At this point, there is nothing more profitable than fraud."
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