Friday, February 12, 2010

Blackwater 'billed US for prostitutes'



Blackwater 'billed US for prostitutes'


February 12, 2010 - 9:14AM

AP

Two former Blackwater Worldwide employees say the security company repeatedly billed the US government for excessive or inappropriate expenses, including a prostitute for workers in Afghanistan and strippers in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

In a federal lawsuit filed in Virginia, Brad and Melan Davis say Blackwater officials also deceived the government by double-billing for travel costs and creating false invoices.

They say the US government "has been damaged in the amount of many millions of dollars in funds".

Brad Davis also claims he witnessed acts of excessive force by company workers in Iraq.

A federal law enforcement official told The Associated Press that federal authorities in Virginia were investigating whether Blackwater had overbilled for its State Department work.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak publicly.

Blackwater or its workers have also faced federal probes for shootings in Iraq and Afghanistan and accusations of arms smuggling.

An audit released last year found that the State Department could have been able to recover $55 million from Blackwater because the company didn't provide the personnel necessary to fulfill its contract during the months examined in 2006 and 2007.

A spokesman for Blackwater, which has since changed its name to Xe, did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

The company is based in Moyock, North Carolina.

The latest lawsuit was filed in 2008 in the eastern district of Virginia and recently unsealed after the Justice Department declined to join the case.

It provides more specific allegations by the Davises, a married couple.

Melan Davis, who said she handled some record-keeping and billing roles at Blackwater, said in a signed court statement that she found that a prostitute in Afghanistan had been placed on Blackwater's payroll under the "Morale Welfare Recreation" category.

Davis, who was fired from the company and is challenging her dismissal, said she also helped with record-keeping for Blackwater's response in Louisiana to Hurricane Katrina.

Among other charges of excessive billing there, Davis said two workers paid a vendor for "cleaning services" but the vendor would instead provide strippers.

Brad Davis says in the court filing he witnessed three instances in 2005 in which company workers used excessive force in Iraq.

He said the contractors involved in the shootings used unjustified force to "kill or seriously injure innocent Iraqi civilians", but that the company did not stop to see whether the targets of the shootings were alive or injured.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a big surprise...NOT.

BTW, any updates on your progress of Absolved? Any month set for release?

Ed Rasimus said...

This should be titled, "Boys Will Be Boys" but looks more like a get-even lawsuit by a couple of disgruntled former employees who are seeking their 15 minutes of fame and a $5M out-of-court settlement.

fireplaceguy said...

So it turns out that power corrupts?

Dang. Someone shoulda warned us.

dinsdale said...

People have been calling it "Marijuana, Women, and Rum" for years, they just took it seriously. Honest mistake, I'm sure.

Anonymous said...

Blackwater's accountant used to work for Jeff Skilling at Enron.

Creative accounting by thugs with guns...

MadDawg308 said...

Darn! I saw the legs and the barstools, I thought this was going to be another Praxis article on strippers. Oh well. :)

O. C. Cupant said...

Only thing I find noteworthy about this is, the whores we paid for with our taxpayer funds for the Blackwater guys are lots prettier than the whores we pay to inhabit the House and Senate.
And probably gave better service.

Anonymous said...

I'll echo Ed's assertion that this is just a matter of disgruntled employees.

More than likely they'll be crushed in court and nobody will hear of the matter again since no lawyer in their right mind would help them pursue an appeal.

I understand Mike's distrust of Blackwater/Xe, but I doubt they'll be the ones kicking in our doors to take our guns.

Foreign PMC's will hurriedly set up domestic operations here, will avidly bid on contracts, and will use Russian, European and other mercs to conduct confiscation operations.

This will be encouraged by the government, as they'll be shocked and befuddled when domestic agencies refuse to put more of their agents in harms way for absolutely no positive benefit.

Anonymous said...

What the hell, who cares?
One bunch of contract whores, billing an even bigger bunch of governmental regulatory whores, for the use of a third bunch of honest prostitutes.

B Woodman
III-per

W W Woodward said...

Why should we be surprised by Blackwater using our money to pay prostitutes?

The American taxpayer has been funding the 535 whores of Camelot on the Potomac for a long time.

[W-III]

Big Bob said...

Trillions are the new million. What tax dollars these guys pissed away is nothing compared to the real thieves. When no more money can be borrowed or created out of whole cloth it will be interesting times for all of us.

Anonymous said...

Reminded me of this article I read the other day:

http://www.deathvalleymag.com/2010/02/09/civilian-contractors-you-blew-the-benefits-of-having-a-6-figure-job-because-you-are-stupid/

"Oh Yeah, Don’t forget about the devout Christian carpenter who divorced his wife of 15 years (with 2 children) after his VERY FIRST TRIP to Thailand. “She’ll take it ANYWHERE!” he told me. “I love that woman!” lol"

James G - Death Valley Mag said...

Before people start saying “Blackwater paid for whores” we need to ask was this:

(A.) Corporate Blackwater sending a whore for their guys after voting for it unanimously at a board meeting?

Or

(B.) Was it a rouge employee that shipped a whore to A-Stan on the company’s dime?

I would bet B


Seen that stuff before, some loser hires his whore girlfriend for a TCN job in Iraq.

Admin gigs that don’t require a clearance or US citizenship always go to a TCN (and Flips are the main source of cheap admin labor), anyone back at corporate stateside looking at the bill for a Flip chicks ticket and salary for an in-country admin gig wouldn’t even think twice about approving it.


~James