Army Officers Charged In Planned Theft in Iraq
WASHINGTON - Feb. 7, 2007 — -- Today, the Department of Justice unsealed a 25 count indictment charging three former US Army officers and two US civilians with various crimes in a scheme to steal millions of dollars from the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) in Iraq.
Government officials were surprised by the "audacity" of the scheme and called it the work of "a handful of greedy individuals" committing fraud in Iraq.
One of the men charged, U.S. Army Reserve Colonel Curtis G. Whiteford, was once the second most senior official at the CPA with the responsibility of supervising personnel who awarded contracts related to the reconstruction of Iraq.
The indictment alleges that Whiteford, and Lt. Colonels Debra Harrison and Michael Wheeler conspired with others to rig CPA contracts so that they would be awarded to Philip Bloom, a US citizen who owned several companies in Iraq.
Bloom in turn, provided the conspirators with over $1million dollars in cash for fancy cars, jewelry, liquor and other items . The indictment alleges that in all Bloom won more than $8.6 million in rigged contracts. Bloom pleaded guilty to related charges in March of 2006.
In announcing the indictment today Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty said, it was a "complex bribery scheme" where the "defendants conspired to steal millions of dollars slated for the reconstruction of Iraq. " The funds lost totaled $3.6 million dollars. So far $2 million of the money has been recovered from conspirators who plead guilty.
Stuart Bowen, the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction made his first trip to Iraq three years ago to focus on fraud and waste. Today he said he was surprised by the "audacity of the conspirators." Bowen said his office currently has about 80 fraud cases ongoing.
Asked about the danger for his investigative team working in Iraq Bowen said, "the Green Zone is a dangerous place. More dangerous today than it's been."
The unsealing of the indictment comes the day after congressional hearings where Democrats in Congress criticized the Bush administration's handling of billions of reconstruction money in Iraq.
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