Judge overturns verdict against Iraq war contractor in fraud case
Judge overturns verdict against Iraq war contractor in fraud case
By Matthew Barakat, Associated Press Writer August 18, 2006
ALEXANDRIA, Va. --A federal judge has overturned on a technicality a $10 million jury verdict against a military contractor accused of defrauding the U.S. government in the initial months of the Iraq war.
The verdict, awarded in March against Fairfax-based Custer Battles LLC, had been the first civil fraud verdict arising from the Iraq war. Custer Battles based most of its operations in Rhode Island.
A former Custer Battles employee filed the lawsuit under a whistleblower statute, alleging that Custer Battles used shell companies and false invoices to vastly overstate its expenses on a $3 million contract to assist in establishing a new currency to replace the old Iraqi dinar used during Saddam Hussein's regime.
The verdict reached $10 million because the law calls for triple damages, plus penalties fines and legal costs.
But U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III, in a ruling made public Friday, ruled that Custer Battles' accusers failed to prove that the U.S. government was ever defrauded. Any fraud that occurred was perpetrated instead against the Coalition Provisional Authority, formed shortly after the war to run Iraq during the occupation until an Iraqi government was established.
Ellis ruled that the trial evidence failed to show that the U.S. government was the actual victim, even though U.S. taxpayers ultimately footed the bill.
Alan Grayson, lawyer for whistleblowers Robert Isakson and William Baldwin, said he will appeal the ruling. He faulted the Bush administration for creating the CPA in a manner that essentially allowed it to act as a money launderer for unscrupulous military contractors.
"The Bush administration incompetently created this Frankenstein monster called Coalition Provisional Authority. They did it without thinking about it. They blundered into it," Grayson said.
The Bush administration tried to portray the CPA as an international entity for public relations purposes when in reality it was wholly controlled by the United States, Grayson said.... More
http://www.FireDogLake.com has some good commentary including the duffle bags full of cash.
Link Here
The Custer Battles case is a hot topic on blogs everywhere, especially those critical of our judicial system. But fortunately, the bad guys don't always get away. The average citizen would be amazed to know two things. First, under a unique federal law, if they know someone is defrauding the federal government, they can personally file an action to recover triple the amount of money defrauded, and they may get to keep up to 30% as a reward. Second, most of America's largest companies ranging from Shell Oil to Walmart have been sued by private persons, and forced to settle for sums as high as $900 Million. To read about every major case in the past 19 years, and to learn about how the law works, people can go to www.FederalFraud.com
--Posted by Andrew
By Matthew Barakat, Associated Press Writer August 18, 2006
ALEXANDRIA, Va. --A federal judge has overturned on a technicality a $10 million jury verdict against a military contractor accused of defrauding the U.S. government in the initial months of the Iraq war.
The verdict, awarded in March against Fairfax-based Custer Battles LLC, had been the first civil fraud verdict arising from the Iraq war. Custer Battles based most of its operations in Rhode Island.
A former Custer Battles employee filed the lawsuit under a whistleblower statute, alleging that Custer Battles used shell companies and false invoices to vastly overstate its expenses on a $3 million contract to assist in establishing a new currency to replace the old Iraqi dinar used during Saddam Hussein's regime.
The verdict reached $10 million because the law calls for triple damages, plus penalties fines and legal costs.
But U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III, in a ruling made public Friday, ruled that Custer Battles' accusers failed to prove that the U.S. government was ever defrauded. Any fraud that occurred was perpetrated instead against the Coalition Provisional Authority, formed shortly after the war to run Iraq during the occupation until an Iraqi government was established.
Ellis ruled that the trial evidence failed to show that the U.S. government was the actual victim, even though U.S. taxpayers ultimately footed the bill.
Alan Grayson, lawyer for whistleblowers Robert Isakson and William Baldwin, said he will appeal the ruling. He faulted the Bush administration for creating the CPA in a manner that essentially allowed it to act as a money launderer for unscrupulous military contractors.
"The Bush administration incompetently created this Frankenstein monster called Coalition Provisional Authority. They did it without thinking about it. They blundered into it," Grayson said.
The Bush administration tried to portray the CPA as an international entity for public relations purposes when in reality it was wholly controlled by the United States, Grayson said.... More
http://www.FireDogLake.com has some good commentary including the duffle bags full of cash.
Link Here
The Custer Battles case is a hot topic on blogs everywhere, especially those critical of our judicial system. But fortunately, the bad guys don't always get away. The average citizen would be amazed to know two things. First, under a unique federal law, if they know someone is defrauding the federal government, they can personally file an action to recover triple the amount of money defrauded, and they may get to keep up to 30% as a reward. Second, most of America's largest companies ranging from Shell Oil to Walmart have been sued by private persons, and forced to settle for sums as high as $900 Million. To read about every major case in the past 19 years, and to learn about how the law works, people can go to www.FederalFraud.com
--Posted by Andrew
posted by Kangaroo Brisbane Australia at 6:05 PM
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