Gross Overpayment
by Pamela LeaveyThis falls under the WTF category: Pentagon Paid $998,798 to Ship Two 19-Cent Washers:
A small South Carolina parts supplier collected about $20.5 million over six years from the Pentagon for fraudulent shipping costs, including $998,798 for sending two 19-cent washers to an Army base in Texas, U.S. officials said.
The company also billed and was paid $455,009 to ship three machine screws costing $1.31 each to Marines in Habbaniyah, Iraq, and $293,451 to ship an 89-cent split washer to Patrick Air Force Base in Cape Canaveral, Florida, Pentagon records show.
The owners of C&D Distributors in Lexington, South Carolina — twin sisters — exploited a flaw in an automated Defense Department purchasing system: bills for shipping to combat areas or U.S. bases that were labeled “priority” were usually paid automatically, said Cynthia Stroot, a Pentagon investigator.
How could this have happened? No oversight from the Bush Pentagon… That’s how:
C&D’s fraudulent billing started in 2000, Stroot, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service’s chief agent in Raleigh, North Carolina, said in an interview. “As time went on they got more aggressive in the amounts they put in.”
The price the military paid for each item shipped rarely reached $100 and totaled just $68,000 over the six years in contrast to the $20.5 million paid for shipping, she said.
“The majority, if not all of these parts, were going to high-priority, conflict areas — that’s why they got paid,” Stroot said. If the item was earmarked “priority,” destined for the military in Iraq, Afghanistan or certain other locations, “there was no oversight.”
The excuse on why it happened, from the Justice Department…
The Pentagon’s Defense Logistics Agency orders millions of parts a year. “These shipping claims were processed automatically to streamline the re-supply of items to combat troops in Iraq and Afghanistan,” the Justice Department said in a press release announcing today’s verdict.
Outrageous. GTL pegs it: “Commander-In-Chief And Alberto Gonzales Paid Crooked Contractor One Million Dollars To Ship Two Nineteen Cent Washers From S.C. To Their Home State Of Texas.”
Isn’t it time to say…
Enough Is Enough.
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The American tax payers are being fleeced big time. The subject of this article only reflects that tax payers were cheated out of some $20 million dollars. I highly suspect that this is only the tip of the iceberg when it compares to what is going on in Iraq. Here is a post I made on another site on the same subject:
As a former Government Contracting Officer, I have continually posted comments on other sites as to why nothing has been done to investigate the award and subsequent administration of the Halliburton sole-source contract. The award of this contract on a sole-source basis is highly questionable and its subsequent management even more so. I seriously doubt that its award was in line with the requirements of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) that governs the award and administration of contracts. (Especially use of the contract over an extended period of time, rather than as a temporary measure.) Some time back, emails attributed to VP Dick “Halliburton” Cheney surfaced, as well as some damaging comments by some of those involved in the contract award, that clearly showed that Cheney was involved in the award to insure that it was awarded to his old company, Halliburton. Since then, only silence! There have been leaks of information clearly indicating the possibility of fraud, such as soft drinks sold to the Government at $4 to $5 a can, illegal payments, lack of enforcing penalties for delays and/or non-compliance with requirements, etc., etc. Fairness to the American tax payer cries out for an extensive look at the Halliburton contract as well as the subcontractors. Will we see it? Probably not until this Administration is booted out of office and someone with the guts to proceed surfaces!
[...] number of (sometimes) thoughtful but always amusing pieces from around the sphere. Enjoy. Pamela Leavey of The Democratic Daily wants to know how a military parts supplier managed to collect a [...]
When something like this happens in the private sector, people lose their jobs. Not just the people doing the stealing/embezzlement but also the people who were supposed to audit/review/oversee the processes and outcomes of the processes. Arthur Anderson, and thousands of their employees and partners — gone, because of Enron.
So, that’s the standard I want applied here. I want to see dozens of incompetent “overseers”, in the Pentagon and elsewhere, some of whom may have been on the take too, to just be fired. Now.
[...] tching story. This is not a Republican, George W. Bush Administration issue as some “hate GWB” democrats would like you to believe. Its a systemic issue with government whether eith [...]
For those that may be interested, there is a distinct difference between the $750 hammer case and the corruption of overbilling the Government by thousands of dollars in shipping cost. The hammer payment was at the price under the terms of the contract. It was not a crime, nor was it illegal. The excessive shipping costs for those washers/screws WAS a crime and illegal. Granted, the price for the hammer was probably excessive, BUT that was not the contractor’s fault. The fault was clearly the Government’s own contracting officer(s) that provided the specifications for the hammer and subsequently approved the price to the Government. Thus, the situations are not the same. (VietnamVet, former Government Contracting Officer.)
VietnamVet,
I’m very convinced there is a power strucure hidden quite deep with connecting roots that go every where. The Pentagon Papers is a movie you may be very familiar with. I think it was in there or Why We Fight that this fact came up: every Congressional District in the country has some business that sells to the millitary.
Getting a handle on the mess is going to take a lot of strong minds and arms. One thing that would really help is some major pruning of overseas bases. Then they wouldnt have to streamline so much.
Cheney is in so deep it’s hard to tell if there is anything underground he doesn’t have access to.