Politics

Taxpayers Could Have Saved Over $180 Million

By Karina

Oversight Committee Chairman Waxman wrote to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates today regarding internal Defense Department documents that assert that the International Oil Trading Company (IOTC) charged prices that were not ?fair and reasonable? to deliver fuel through Jordan to Iraq.

Chairman Waxman writes:

I have been conducting oversight of procurement problems in Iraq since the war began over five years ago. The IOTC contracts stand out for the extent of the company’s apparent profiteering. Of the $210 million in profits received by the company, at least one third - $70 million - appears to have benefited a single individual: Mr. Sargeant. If the IOTC contracts had been awarded to the lowest bidders, the taxpayers could have saved over $180 million.

Read the full letter>>

Read background materials (pdf):

E-mail from Sargeant to DESC (April 2005) (339 KB)
E-mails between DESC & US Embassy (May 2005) (1 MB)
IOTC Payments & Profits (68 KB)
J & A Memo (July 2004) (1,019 KB)
Meeting between DESC & Jordanian Embassy (June 2004) (162 KB)
Memo from Library of Congress to Rep. Waxman (Sept. 2008) (286 KB)
Preaward Survey, Technical (March 2004) (308 KB)
Price Negotiation Memo (June 2004) (3 MB)
Senior Procurement Official Memo (June 2004) (499 KB)

Learn more about the Oversight Committee’s ongoing investigations into waste, fraud and abuse>>

Full post as published by The Gavel on October 16, 2008 (boomark / email).