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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings & Torture |
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October 1st,
2007 - Company with Ties to Major Cries Foul |
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Company with Ties to Major Cries
Foul By Gary Contreras San Antonio Express-News October 1, 2007 Inside an office at Camp
Arifjan in Kuwait, where military contracts worth billions of dollars were
doled out to private businesses, conditions were ripe for ripoffs. Contracts could be inflated
and steered to companies willing to pay bribes. Oversight was insufficient.
Military officials had little contract experience or ethics training. One congressman, after
hearing testimony from Pentagon officials, recently described it as "a
culture of corruption." In the thick of it was Army
Maj. John Cockerham of San Antonio, federal prosecutors say. He, his wife and
his sister have been indicted on charges of conspiracy to commit bribery,
obstruct justice and launder money. Cockerham, who is in jail awaiting trial,
also faces charges of bribery, in the millions allegedly. One company that was doing
business with the Kuwait office, and with Cockerham specifically, contends it
is a victim of both the rigged system and now a misdirected military
investigation. It claims two of its
contracts, legitimately obtained, were taken away and given to companies
willing to pay bribes and accused of fraud. What Gulf Group Enterprises
Co. says happened to its contracts might be indicative of the corrupt system
to supply troops in Iraq, Kuwait and Afghanistan. The government is
investigating Gulf Group for possible bribery. Gulf Group denies any
wrongdoing and has filed four lawsuits against the government. The Justice Department
recently asked a judge to delay any action on Gulf's lawsuits out of concern
that they might disclose important details about the wider investigation. As of a few weeks ago, 78
criminal investigations were probing contract fraud in the military, and at
least 29 people have been charged, including Cockerham, his wife and sister. At least two contracting
officers appear to have committed suicide after being questioned by
investigators and admitting they had taken kickbacks. Army Maj. Gloria D. Davis, a
contracting officer at Camp Arifjan, committed suicide in December 2006, a
day after telling investigators that Cockerham and other officers had taken
bribes. Davis admitted taking
$225,000 in kickbacks from an American-owned company in Kuwait, court records
and other documents obtained by the Express-News show. A week after her death,
investigators in San Antonio searched Cockerham's home at Fort Sam Houston,
uncovering ledgers they say documented up to $15 million in bribes from at
least eight contractors he dealt with in Kuwait. Camp Arifjan also was
stunned by the death in September 2006 of Lt. Col. Marshall A. Gutierrez. Gutierrez, head of logistics
for the Army's Area Support Group, was recorded by Army agents on Aug. 17,
2006, taking a $3,400 bribe from a cooperating witness in exchange for
disclosing confidential bid information from other contractors. During a search of his
vehicle and quarters, agents found $27,000 in suspected bribes. Arrested and jailed for a
court martial, he apparently tried to kill himself twice. Later, he was
ordered released, and was found dead on Sept. 4, 2006, in his living
quarters. Found at the scene was an empty prescription bottle for sleeping
pills and a water bottle with a green liquid believed to be antifreeze,
according to military reports obtained by the Express-News under the Freedom
of Information Act. No evidence The Justice Department has
yet to provide any solid evidence that Gulf Group paid bribes. Instead, it
claims that because Gulf Group had a bottled water contract handled by
Cockerham, the company now merits investigation. Attorneys for Gulf Group
oppose any more postponements in its lawsuits. Iliaura Hands, a lawyer for
Gulf Group, characterized the Justice Department's motion as "the
government's bogus attempt to delay the prompt payment of its
obligation" - almost $1.1 million from one contract alone. "Gulf Group has been a
victim of a circle of corrupt government personnel," she said. Gulf Group contends that
Cockerham, who was stationed in Kuwait for almost two years, wrongly
terminated two contracts the company had for supplying U.S. forces in Kuwait
and Iraq with latrines and trash bins. The San Antonio Express-News
confirmed the terminated contracts were awarded to two Kuwaiti companies that
were temporarily suspended from doing business with the government because of
allegations of fraud or bribery - Jasmine International Trading and
Contracting Co. and Green Valley Co. Shortly after Green Valley
got the trash bin contract, it was expanded to add wastewater removal and
other work at Camp Arifjan. The contract later ran into problems - Green
Valley's employees began pretending to empty tankers full of sewage from Camp
Arifjan. The trickery resulted in
inflated bills to the Army, to the tune of $1.3 million, according to records
obtained through a federal Freedom of Information Act request. That episode resulted in
Green Valley getting debarred until Dec.1, 2009. The company didn't respond
to the Express-News' inquiries. It also never responded to the Army's
allegations in the civil administrative proceedings that led to its
debarment. Jasmine denied any wrongdoing. Exhibits in the lawsuits say
two of Gulf Group's contracts were terminated in October 2004 by Cockerham at
the orders of Army Col. Brick T. Miller. Miller headed the Army Area Support
Group at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, from July 2004 to July 2006. Cockerham was
stationed at Camp Arifjan for much of that time. The reasons for ending Gulf
Group's contracts were similar, contract paperwork shows. One of the papers
cited this: "Contract is canceled by order of the ASG Commander Kuwait
COL Brick Miller. Contract was canceled in accordance with FAR Part 52.212-4
Termination for Convenience of the Government." Sources involved in
government contracting say termination of a contract for
"convenience" - for no apparent good cause - is allowed, but is
rare and comes across as "eye catching" and "suspicious." In a brief phone interview
recently, Miller bristled that a reporter with the Express-News had contacted
him to ask questions, but dismissed any mention of his name in the
investigation as "some major talking (expletive)." "I don't have time to
waste on some major who throws out spurious comments," Miller said.
"The truth will come out. I'm not worried about some major who wants to
talk (expletive)." "Anybody who knows me,
knows I'm the one who started all this," Miller said, referring to the
investigation. Miller referred further
questions to spokesmen for the military. The Army refused to comment,
citing its ongoing investigation. "As a matter of policy,
we do not confirm nor deny subjects of investigations to protect the
integrity of the investigation and to also protect the individual's
Constitutional due process and Privacy Act rights," Col. Christopher
Grey, a spokesman for the Army's Criminal Investigation Command, said in an
e-mail. Once Gulf Group's contracts
were terminated, the latrine contract went to Jasmine. The company was
debarred for one year in 2006 over allegations that its CEO, Diaa Ahmed
Salem, bribed Army officers to speed up payments to his company, according to
documents. Salem also is named as a
principal in D&G American Trading Services Inc., a company Cockerham
formed in Texas in April 2004, three months before he was deployed to Kuwait. In a sworn affidavit April
8, 2006, Salem said he worked very hard to build his company's good name and
would not jeopardize that in any way. "I have never had to
pay cash to someone or to some entity to obtain a contract for Jasmine,"
Salem's affidavit said. "I would have no need to bribe someone to get
approved for a contract as Jasmine has an outstanding reputation." Gerard Casale, an attorney
representing Jasmine and Salem, also said his client didn't commit any
wrongdoing and knew of no business ties between Salem and Cockerham. He
speculated that Cockerham may have used Salem's name to form the Texas
company without his knowledge. External link: http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/MYSA093007_01A_cockerham_34961f9_html4612.html |