Theft of Fuel From Military in Iraq: One Man Guilty, One Indicted

And we wonder why the Iraq war has been so expensive.  The Justice Department reported:

"Lee William Dubois pleaded guilty on Oct. 7, 2008, to participating in a scheme to steal fuel worth approximately $39.6 million from the U.S. Army in Iraq. In his plea, Dubois admitted that he obtained government-issued common access cards for the drivers and escorts of the trucks and also presented false documents to the VBFP [Victory Bulk Fuel Point at "Camp Liberty," Iraq] authorizing his co-conspirators to draw fuel.

"Dubois admitted that he and his co-conspirators stole approximately 10 million gallons of fuel, and that Dubois received at least $450,000 in personal profits from the subsequent sale of the fuel on the black market. Sentencing for Dubois is scheduled for June 18, 2009."

In a related case, Robert Jeffery was indicted a few days ago for conspiracy and theft of government property in connection with a scheme to steal large quantities of fuel from the U.S. Army in Iraq.

This reminds me of contractor KBR (back when it was a Halliburton subsidiary), which allegedly overcharged us taxpayers by more than $100 million for fuel-related work in the Middle East. (See House Oversight Committee letter, March 14, 2005).

Oddly, the Pentagon refused for months to release to Congress and the public the audit reports showing that Halliburton/KBR had been overcharging us taxpayers. 

Despite such questionable behavior on KBR's part, the U.S. Army awarded KBR a  $19.2 million federal contract in February 2009 to do more fuel-related work.

The U.S. government's repeatedly giving lucrative contracts to companies that engage in waste, fraud or abuse might give people the wrong message: that it's okay to rob the U.S. government -- as long as the perp is a large corporation.

Other Buck Naked Politics Posts:

* KBR Pays $579 Million to Settle Bribery Case 

* Contractor Northrop to Settle Fraud Suit for $325 Million

* Senate Passes Stimulus Bill: What About Contractor Waste & Fraud? 

* Inspector Blocked Investigations of Contractor Fraud and Waste?

* Defense Dept. Rewarding Bad Contractor Performance?

* Contractors: Driving up War's Costs?

* Contractors: Driving up Healthcare Costs

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