Pentagon program permits contractors, insurance firms to gouge taxpayers.

The Associated Press re****ted Wednesday that the Army Criminal
Investigation Command has opened a probe into two companies working on
Iraq reconstruction that have been accused of padding their profits by
claiming reimbursements from the Corps of Engineers for insurance
coverage they never purchased.

The probe of two Iraqi companies located in Tikrit -- Sakar al-Fahal
and al-Jubori -- led the Corps of Engineers to scour its records for
evidence of fraud by other contractors hired with billions of U.S.
dollars to help rebuild Iraqi infrastructure devastated by the war.


From The Associated Press, 5/15/08:
http://www.newsday.com/news/politics/wire/sns-ap-iraq-oversight,0,3003661.story

Contractors, insurance firms gouging taxpayers, panel says

By RICHARD LARDNER | Associated Press Writer

WA****NGTON - 

A poorly run Pentagon program for providing workman's compensation for
civilian employees in Iraq and Afghanistan has allowed defense
contractors and insurance companies to gouge American taxpayers, a
House committee said Thursday.

Insurance companies alone have collected nearly $600 million in
excessive profits over the past five years, says a Democratic staff
re****t from the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, but
the Defense Department refuses to adjust its approach for managing the
program.

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Harry