US-based KBR Inc. to pay $143mln for fraud during war on Iraq

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
4 Jul 2023 09:23

KBR will pay $108.75 million, approximately half of which is in restitution damages, plus interest to the US government.

US Marines in northern Kuwait gear up after receiving orders to cross the Iraqi border on March 20, 2003 (AFP)

KBR will be paying more than $143 million over fraud allegations related to contracts the company had won during the Iraq war, Sputnik reported.

"KBR announced today that it has settled a legacy lawsuit pending in federal court, USA ex rel Howard v. KBR. KBR will pay $108.75 million, approximately half of which in restitution damages, plus interest to the US government, and will pay $34.95 million to the relators as attorney's fees," the company said in a statement.

Back in 2011, whistleblowers revealed fraudulent profits acquired as part of contracts KBR had won. The company was accused of violating the False Claims Act by billing newly purchased equipment when they had only relocated preexisting material. The plaintiffs alleged that the company had billed for "unreasonable and unallowable costs" that the government would not have paid for otherwise, according to court documents.

KBR, which is a spin-off of Halliburton, had received up to $40 billion worth of contracts, according to reports by The Financial Times.

Even though the entire world has known that the invasion of Iraq was based on false pretenses that the country had weapons of mass destruction, the US continues to justify its violation of international law, said the Russian Ambassador to the US on Monday.

Commenting on the anniversary of the war on Iraq, Anatoly Antonov described it as a “dark page in American history." It was a time "when the US once again demonstrated a complete disregard for the UN Charter and the norms of international law” and violated Iraqi sovereignty using “open deceit” to justify its actions.

Antonov pointed out that the pretext for the war was “deliberately fabricated", highlighting the incident when Secretary of State Colin Powell waved a vial of powder at the UN while claiming that Iraq had WMDs.

"Hundreds of thousands of people died. Millions fled their homes, becoming refugees,” Antonov said.

He referred to the destruction of Fallujah and the massacres perpetrated by Blackwater mercenaries as long-remembered examples of US "democratization".

With a motive to create more turmoil and chaos, the US planted the seeds for the rise of ISIS and other terrorist organizations in the Middle East, which still threaten regional and international security to this day, Antonov noted.

Even 20 years later, the US continues to falsely assert that its invasion of Iraq is "justifiable". Antonov pointed out that the Americans think that they "have the right to do whatever they please.”

"This means no state can feel safe if it does something to displease Washington.”

As such, US troops are still present in the region “under the guise of the noble counter-terrorism mission.” They are currently trying to play world policy in an attempt to control resource-rich Iraq, the Ambassador pointed out.