skunk
Nov 5, 2005, 08:11 PM
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2005-11-05T203830Z_01_SCH574193_RTRUKOC_0_US-IRAQ-UN-HALLIBURTON.xml&archived=False
US should repay Iraq for Halliburton work: audit
Sat Nov 5, 2005 3:38 PM ET
By John Poirier
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States should reimburse Iraq for $208 million in apparent overcharges paid to a Halliburton Co. subsidiary, an U.N. watchdog agency said on Saturday.
The International Advisory and Monitoring Board for the Development of Iraq conducted a special audit on Halliburton's Kellogg, Brown and Root unit for the procurement and distribution of fuel products and the restoration of Iraq's oil infrastructure.
The monitoring board cited charges of $208 million, costs that earlier had been questioned by U.S. military auditors.
In a statement made public on its Web site on Saturday, the board said it "recommends that amounts disbursed to contractors that cannot be supported as fair be reimbursed expeditiously."
Halliburton's spokeswoman, Cathy Mann, said the U.S. agency's questioned the quality of the supporting documents for the costs -- not the costs themselves.
"Therefore, it would be completely wrong to say or imply that any of these costs that were incurred at the client's direction for its benefit are 'overcharges,'" Mann said.
The monitoring board can make recommendations but not decisions on whether reimbursements are made.
Iraq's oil account, called the Development Fund for Iraq, was set up by the U.N. Security Council, along with the monitoring board, to watch over the stewardship of Iraq's natural resources during the U.S. civil administration of Iraq.
The monitoring board's life was extended after an appointed transitional Iraqi government took over on June 29, 2004.
In May, the board noted "with regret" that Pentagon auditors had tried to hide from it more than $200 million in apparent overcharges in contracts paid for with Iraqi oil money and awarded on a noncompetitive basis to Halliburton, a company once led by Vice President Dick Cheney.
U.S. military auditors had turned over heavily edited audits to the board, saying the deletions were made to protect trade secrets. An unedited version of the audit later surfaced, showing the deletions sought to conceal questionable billings.
In its recent statement, the monitoring board also said "the process to substantiate these expenditures is still ongoing."
The board said a total of 24 "sole sourced" contracts involving more than $5 million for a total of $1.963 billion had been carried out from late June 2003 to late June 2004.
Of those contracts, KBR had a contract worth $1.367 billion and carried out 10 task orders but the monitoring board's statement did not specify the quality of KBR's work.File under "Cold Day in Hell".
US should repay Iraq for Halliburton work: audit
Sat Nov 5, 2005 3:38 PM ET
By John Poirier
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States should reimburse Iraq for $208 million in apparent overcharges paid to a Halliburton Co. subsidiary, an U.N. watchdog agency said on Saturday.
The International Advisory and Monitoring Board for the Development of Iraq conducted a special audit on Halliburton's Kellogg, Brown and Root unit for the procurement and distribution of fuel products and the restoration of Iraq's oil infrastructure.
The monitoring board cited charges of $208 million, costs that earlier had been questioned by U.S. military auditors.
In a statement made public on its Web site on Saturday, the board said it "recommends that amounts disbursed to contractors that cannot be supported as fair be reimbursed expeditiously."
Halliburton's spokeswoman, Cathy Mann, said the U.S. agency's questioned the quality of the supporting documents for the costs -- not the costs themselves.
"Therefore, it would be completely wrong to say or imply that any of these costs that were incurred at the client's direction for its benefit are 'overcharges,'" Mann said.
The monitoring board can make recommendations but not decisions on whether reimbursements are made.
Iraq's oil account, called the Development Fund for Iraq, was set up by the U.N. Security Council, along with the monitoring board, to watch over the stewardship of Iraq's natural resources during the U.S. civil administration of Iraq.
The monitoring board's life was extended after an appointed transitional Iraqi government took over on June 29, 2004.
In May, the board noted "with regret" that Pentagon auditors had tried to hide from it more than $200 million in apparent overcharges in contracts paid for with Iraqi oil money and awarded on a noncompetitive basis to Halliburton, a company once led by Vice President Dick Cheney.
U.S. military auditors had turned over heavily edited audits to the board, saying the deletions were made to protect trade secrets. An unedited version of the audit later surfaced, showing the deletions sought to conceal questionable billings.
In its recent statement, the monitoring board also said "the process to substantiate these expenditures is still ongoing."
The board said a total of 24 "sole sourced" contracts involving more than $5 million for a total of $1.963 billion had been carried out from late June 2003 to late June 2004.
Of those contracts, KBR had a contract worth $1.367 billion and carried out 10 task orders but the monitoring board's statement did not specify the quality of KBR's work.File under "Cold Day in Hell".
