Special to WorldTribune.com

WASHINGTON — The United States has implicated Kuwait in a major kickback scheme in Iraq.

The Justice Department has joined a lawsuit against a leading U.S. defense provider accused of corruption in Iraq from 2002 through 2004.

The suit, initiated by a whistleblower in 2012, asserted that Kellogg, Brown & Root Services, an engineering, construction and services firm based in Houston, Texas, worked with two Kuwaiti subcontractors in a kickback scheme that targeted the U.S. Army.

“Our office investigated the actions of KBR and related companies, as well as certain KBR employees,” U.S. Attorney for the Central District of Illinois, Jim Lewis, said. “We were able to obtain criminal convictions against several subcontract managers whose actions were illegal and caused damage to our military, and we are now committed to pursue these civil claims against the companies themselves.”

So far, federal prosecutors have convicted 10 companies and individuals in connection with U.S. wartime contracts in Iraq. They included three KBR subcontract managers, one of them who received kickbacks in exchange for an
award to First Kuwaiti Trading Co. for trucks and trailers.

Another Kuwaiti subcontractor, La Nouvelle General Trading & Contracting, was accused of a $1 million kickback to a KBR employee. The KBR award to Le Nouvelle for fuel tankers was said to have been more than three times that of the market value.

“KBR then claimed reimbursement from the government for costs it
incurred under the subcontracts that allegedly were inflated, excessive or
for goods and services that were grossly deficient or not provided,” the
Justice Department said on Jan. 23. “KBR performed many of these services
through subcontracts awarded to foreign companies local to the region, such
as La Nouvelle and First Kuwaiti.”

Another subcontractor that received kickbacks was identified as Tamimi
Global Co., based in Saudi Arabia. In a settlement that stemmed from a 2006
conviction, Tamimi paid the U.S. government $13 million.

“We will ensure that contractors do not engage in corrupt practices at
the expense of our troops abroad, while profiting at the expense of
taxpayers at home,” Assistant Attorney General Stuart Delery said.

The lawsuit, filed under the False Claims Act and Anti-Kickback Act,
also said KBR used refrigerated trailers to transport ice for consumption by U.S.
troops. The trailers were said to have been previously employed as temporary
morgues and were not sanitized.

“The lawsuit demonstrates the commitment of DCIS [Defense Criminal
Investigative Service] and its partner agencies to prevent false billing and
corrupt practices involving the military contracting process,” the Justice
Department said.

  False Claim Act and Anti-Kickback Act, First Kuwaiti Trading Co., Kellogg Brown & Root Services, Kuwaiti subcontractors implicated in kickback scheme, Tamimi Global Co., U.S. firm