Officials said the U.S. government investigated Tamimi for four years on
charges that executives relayed bribes to win American military subcontracts
in Iraq and Kuwait. One Tamimi manager, Mohammad Khan, has pleaded guilty to
14 counts and confessed to paying $133,000 to KBR. In 2009, Khan,
sentenced to 51 months in prison, said the money helped win $21.8 million in
KBR contracts, Middle East Newsline reported.
The Wartime Contracting Commission has also been investigating Al Tamimi
in the alleged kickback scheme. Members of the government panel said Al
Tamimi could have won $49 million in contracts from a range of U.S.
companies.
So far, Al Tamimi has refused demands by the Pentagon and KBR to examine
Saudi company records. The investigation has sought to determine how Khan
obtained the bribes for KBR and other U.S. contractors.
Dalby, also ethics director of Al Tamimi, said his company was not
required to supply its records. He maintained that Al Tamimi did not benefit
from Khan's bribes and could not find the $133,000.
"The company itself did not profit or did not gain any awards as a
result," Dalby said.
Officials said Al Tamimi represented the tip of the iceberg in what
they asserted was massive corruption and bribery to win subcontracts in Iraq
and Kuwait. Al Tamimi, with 30 divisions, operates in Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar
and the United Arab Emirates and maintains partnerships with General
Electric and ITT.
"Up to $300 million in subcontracts in Iraq and Kuwait were allegedly
tainted by a Saudi-based subcontractor employee's kickback scheme," the
Washington-based Center for Public Integrity said.
The center cited testimony from former contractors in Iraq that local
companies provided prostitutes to win projects for the U.S. government and
military. Subcontractors were said to have played a major role in Iraq and
regional countries for such services as translation, logistics and security.
But officials acknowledged that U.S. investigations of Al Tamimi and
other subcontract bribery have been hampered by foreign governments. They
said Middle East governments often failed to take bribery seriously.
"Without good subcontract control by prime contractors and good
oversight by the government, we risk not only wasting money, but also
depriving our troops of support they need, overlooking misconduct that
alienates local populations, and even handing funds to violent insurgents,"
Michael Thibault, co-chair of the Wartime Contracting Commission, said.