WASHINGTON, May 27, 2009
Defense Contractor Pleads Guilty To Fraud
Woman Placed False Bids To Secure Contract To Supply Bulletproof Vests To Iraqi Army
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Iraqi soldiers secure a street in a show of force in a militia stronghold that has seen some of the fiercest fighting in the southern city of Basra, about 340 miles south of Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday, April 2, 2008. A U.S. defense contractor has pleaded guilty to using bribes and false bids to secure a contract to outift the Iraqi army with bulletproof vests. (AP Photo/Nabil al-Jurani)
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Diana Bakir Demilta pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud, which carries a sentence of up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The plea was filed in December 2007, but unsealed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Washington as part of an ongoing investigation by multiple federal agencies.
Demilta is cooperating with the investigation in hopes of getting a reduced sentence.
She is a U.S. citizen and president of Global-Link Distribution LLC, a defense contracting company. The company was organized under U.S. law and operated out of the International Zone in Baghdad
Demilta admitted orchestrating the scheme between September 2004 and March 2005 so a Kuwaiti firm would win the contract and funnel the funds back to her. She also admitted paying at least $60,000 to a public official to influence the bidding process. The official was not named in court documents, but was described as a senior contracting adviser with the Civilian Police Assistance Training Team that was responsible for developing Iraqi police forces.
According to court documents, the official tipped Demilta off on Sept. 20, 2004, to the upcoming contract for 540 bulletproof vests. The official sent her an e-mail telling her to "use (her) various contacts to obtain three bids" — the minimum number required by federal regulations for the competitive bidding process.
The next day, Demilta sent an e-mail instructing the owner of the Kuwaiti firm to submit three invoices — "one in your name, one in mine and invent another." She told the owner to inflate one bid by 60 percent of the retail price and another by 80 percent.
The Kuwaiti firm sent in the lowest bid, at $375 per vest, and won the contract for $202,500. Demilta oversaw delivery of the vests to the Civilian Police Assistance Training Team warehouse in Baghdad on December 15, 2004. In February 2005, she prepared a voucher and presented it to an Army agent and collected the $202,500 in cash.
The court documents say the Defense Department lost more than $70,000 because of the scheme. Demilta has agreed to reimburse those funds as part of her plea agreement.
© MMIX The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Best-selling author Mitch Albom on his first nonfiction work since "Tuesdays with Morrie."
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See all 40 CommentsPosted by brianbwb-2009 at 4:16 PM : May 27, 2009
These records alongwith many many more disturbing cases of corruption have been sealed by the courts,
Goes to show that the courts and whole justice system was in cahoots with the corrupt Bush/Cheney administration. US Courts and judges were all bought and paid for by CHENEY'S cronies.
This is not surprising when CHENEY's net worth is now over $200 million, blood money profits by sending young Americans to die in a war which was a hoax to begin with. Trading American blood for dollars, that was the mantra of the Bush administration.
Heh how'd you like a federal contract for $55 million to fix trucks for an airbase on Guam? Yeah? then the firetrucks all sit broken and the contractor goes home for the weekend?
oh yeah money money...gotta role in the money money.
Uh-oh. B-2 crashed. and burned. and burned. and burned. Crap call the Guam Fire Department in! This $2 Billion planes been burnin for 6 hours full of nuclear weapons and we aint got no firetrucks!
Oh crap General. Sorry I didn't have firetrucks for you to use. Am I going to lose my contract? No? Heh you won't tell anyone it's Day & Zimmerman out of Philly will you? No you won't tell those morons in Congress we've been providing crappy service all over the world for DOD paying very little for some half ass "mechanics" instead of paying for and hiring real mechanics and providing a service will you? I'll end your career General....do you know how many politicians I've got tied around my finger with the profits I've made?
Shove the burnt B-2 bomber up yer ass. I'm keeping my contract. Heck I got away with this much....plus this was Rumsfleds plan man and we sure swindled those tards in Congress didn't we? Here's $200,000....keep your mouth shut General and you won't be found dead in your home and everyone will think you comitted suicide.
Hal Yoh's a powerful man. The retired military officers running the shows ain't no force to be ignored either.
That's just one powerhouse bankrolling off the US Treasury. There's many, many more.
Rather than eliminating the victims, we'd be smarter to start with the perpetrators of the crime by storming millionaire enclaves like the pirates they think we are. Argh! I see buried treasure in Palm Beach!
You are correct, it is not related directly to this story, but you might want to check out "Dragon skin vs Interceptor", which shows that the army insisted on a (proven inferior in independent side-by-side testing) type of body armor (Interceptor") for US soldiers, over a much more effective armor (Dragon skin"), even going so far as banning it, (2 months before it tested it) although soldiers who were charged with protecting generals and the like were given "Dragon Skin" under the table.
Even soldiers who bought Dragon skin with their own money were told they could not use it.
So why is this treasonous thief being protected? that also smells.
More persons than just Demilta should be facing charges here.
Posted by brianbwb-2009
Correction, 2 years later, as the plea was filed in 2007.
The Kuwaiti firm sent in the lowest bid, at $375 per vest, and won the contract for $202,500. Demilta oversaw delivery of the vests to the Civilian Police Assistance Training Team warehouse in Baghdad on December 15, 2004."
Something other than Demilta's fraud doesn't smell right with this story.
If I read it right, Demilta was one of those with the "losing bid", but then "oversaw delivery of the vests to the Civilian Police Assistance Training Team warehouse in Baghdad on December 15, 2004."
How is it that the losing bidder gets to "oversee delivery to the winning bidder?
"... In February 2005, she prepared a voucher and presented it to an Army agent and collected the $202,500 in cash..."
Again, how is it the losing bidder gets to collect cash?
And how is it that no one noticed this until now, more than 4 years later?
More persons than just Demilta should be facing charges here.
This scum-bucket is small fry....
Posted by Strike-Hold at 12:08 PM : May 27, 2009
You had that when bush and cheney were in office
In a war, "profiteering" should be equivalent to treason.
Lock her away for life.
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