Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Government Contractor Fraud
US Attorney: Scammed While Feeding Troops
November 17, 2009 - 7:34 AM | by: Brooks BlantonA logistics and warehousing company is in hot water for allegedly overcharging taxpayers tens of millions of dollars for feeding US Troops in Iraq, Afghanistan and Jordan. The United States Attorney announced a six count indictment against Kuwait-based Public Warehousing Company (PWC Logistics) at a press conference in Atlanta today. PWC, which changed their name to Agility in 2006, is a Department of Defense contractor. According to the 60 page indictment obtained by Fox News, PWC is accused of making false statements, submitting false claims and wire fraud. Investigators estimate the loss to U.S. taxpayers exceed $65 Million so far, but expect that number to grow as the investigation continues.
“This indictment is only the first step needed to address the fraud that has led to the massive overcharging of the United States,” said Acting US Attorney Gentry Shelnutt. “This office and the federal investigative agencies have dedicated ourselves to continue to pursue related serious allegations of fraud and abuse.”
The government paid PWC more than $8.5 Billion in defense contracts for supplying food to troops on the ground in the Middle East since 2003. But investigators say they discovered the company was overcharging for food and services by hiding discounts, concealing rebates and marking up the cost of food above retail prices in local markets. According to US contracts, vendors are required to pass along any rebates or discount savings to the US Government, something they say PWC intentionally failed to do.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Barbara Nelan said that PWC initially submitted false invoices and grossly undervalued quotes during the bidding process to win the contract. But federal investigators didn’t start looking into the companies actions until a civil lawsuit was filed in 2005 and someone tipped them off to the alleged overbilling.
Amazingly, despite on-going criminal investigations and today’s fraud indictments, PWC still has contracts with the government through the end of next year. Nelan and Shelnutt referred questions about PWC’s on-going defense contracts to the Department of Defense, saying it is out of their reach.
“What happens on the civil side of contracting with PWC is really beyond the scope of the criminal indictment,” Nelan says. “It is not something we are concerned with, we are just concerned with the criminal.”
A representative of the company will make an initial appearance in Federal Court in Atlanta to answer the charges on Friday.
PWC released a statement this afternoon saying "the prices it charges have been negotiated with, agreed to, and continually approved as by the U.S. government ... The government has consistently found PWC's prices to be fair and reasonable." The statement went on to say that an indictment is an allegation and they are confident the US Attorney's charges will be found to be without merit.
Labels: contractor fraud, taxpayer
Is the Honeymoon Over?
Congressman Blasts White House for Faulty Job Data on Government Web Site
FOXNews.com
The government Web site -- Recovery.gov -- is under fire for posting a number of jobs created in congressional districts that don't exist and for accepting unrealistic data from several reporting outlets.
The Democratic chairman of the House Appropriations Committee is demanding greater accountability from the the Obama administration after gross inaccuracies were found on a government Web site that tracks jobs purportedly saved or created by the $787 billion stimulus plan.
In a statement late Monday, Rep. David Obey of Wisconsin, chairman of the House committee, called the inaccuracies "outrageous" and said the administration owes the American public "a commitment to work night and day to correct the ludicrous mistakes."
"Credibility counts in government and stupid mistakes like this undermine it," Obey said. "We designed the Recovery Act to be open and transparent and I expect the the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board, who oversees the recovery act Web site and data to have information that is accurate, reliable and understandable to the American public."
The site -- Recovery.gov -- is under fire for posting a number of jobs created in congressional districts that don't exist and for accepting unrealistic data from several reporting outlets.
For instance, the Web site reported that 30 jobs were saved or created with $761,420 of federal stimulus spending in Arizona's 15th Congressional District. One problem with the claim -- the state has only eight districts
The site also lists 12 other non-existent districts in Arizona where jobs were reportedly saved or created. It also lists imaginary districts in at least three other states, including Oklahoma, Iowa, and Connecticut.
One recipient of stimulus funds, Talladega County of Alabama, claimed that it had saved or created 5,000 jobs from only $42,000 in government money -- which would amount to $8.40 in annual income per job if each position received an equal amount of funding.
ABC News reported Monday that the White House slashed 60,000 jobs from its most recent report on the recovery program as a result of the faulty data.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Government Run Health Care
New Cancer Guidelines Say to Start Mammograms at 50, Not 40
Monday, November 16, 2009
NEW YORK — Most women don't need a mammogram in their 40s and should get one every two years starting at 50, a government task force said Monday. It's a major reversal that conflicts with the American Cancer Society's long-standing position.
Also, the task force said breast self-exams do no good and women shouldn't be taught to do them.
For most of the past two decades, the cancer society has been recommending annual mammograms beginning at 40.
But the government panel of doctors and scientists concluded that getting screened for breast cancer so early and so often leads to too many false alarms and unneeded biopsies without substantially improving women's odds of survival.
Labels: government health care
Monday, November 09, 2009
Berlin Wall
Labels: Berlin Wall, socialism
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