Pentagon Overpaid Billionaire Oilman By Up to $200 Million, Audit Finds

Pentagon Overpaid Billionaire Oilman By Up to $200 Million, Audit Finds

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The Defense Department overpaid a billionaire oilman by as much as $200 million on several military contracts valued at nearly $2.7 billion, an internal audit has found.

paid Harry Sargeant III, a Florida businessman and once-prominent Republican donor, "$160 [millions] to $204 million more for fuel than could be supported by price or cost analysis."

The three contracts were awarded under conditions that effectively eliminated other bidders, the study reported.

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This is a terrific example of criminal actions taken on behalf of the government. There are only three ways to describe this - corrupt at the criminal level, absolute incompetence or both. Personally I think it is basic corruption.

Oil is a commodity. To award contracts in a no-bid process is absurd. To not have a handle on the size of the contract, current value of the commodity and what is being delivered is incredible.

Now the audit is classified. Why is that? Who was responsible for the contracting? What internal controls are in place and what is the level of separation of duties that exist? Internal controls that are in place on very small transactions in the private sector.

Why is it that with respect to our money, the government does not have to abide by the same transparency and control regime that they jam down the throats of public corporations by virtue of Sarbanes/Oxley?

This is a matter that needs to be prosecuted, either by outlaw breaking or gross negligence. If this would happen in the private sector, there is no way that the person(s) would not lose their jobs. There is no way that the CFO and CEO of a private company where this kind of corrpution and/or incompetence existed would not be sanctioned by the board and likely removed. If either knew about it, they would be subject to a prison sentence.

There is also no way that there are not hundreds of examples of this going on at the federal, state and locals. That is why the government needs to be as small as possible. If for no other reason than to limit the opportunities for this kind of disgrace to occur.

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(visit the link for the full news article)

And the games go on.

But whatever you do - don't support worker-led unions. They're even worse than out-of-control billionaires! [/sarcasm]

reply to post by soficrow


What is amazing to me is that there are independent organizations that are quite able to create and implement protocols to manage/ensure financial standards. Accountants have developed accounting principals and essentially self enforce those. Internal auditors, same thing. Now the government is very willing to articulate in law the practice of these principals, yet are obviated from practicing them themselves.

Not in my life has any president even suggested that the government follow the same standards required of public companies. The government has implemented signifcant administrative bodies to enforce these standards, hence the human infrastructure is in place. The SEC, NASD, IRS, state banking regulators, EPA, EEOC and the list goes on regarding what the government is able to do to ensure compliance with what they consider "best practices?

Why is it that the government is very able to ensure that every single government agency is in compliance with EEOC standards, getting lists broken down by demographics, publishing which kind of person is in which box, which groups are being promoted, why certain groups are not being promoted, how racially fair tests are - you name it, yet they are exempt from basic accounting practices? Does it take someone like Waxman to call these jokers to task? Why are they not policing themselves and making public examples of gross incompetence? Why are these matters typically covered under the cloak of classified information?

There is one reason and that is that the government at all levels is an organization which has been purposefully designed to enable corruption. There is no other reason for the on-going mismanagement. These folks in the audit/financial arms of organizations like the Pentagon are top notch folks. Highly educated, motivated, competent. Why can't they effectively do their jobs? Because of the incomprehensible matrix of organizational responsibilities that make it impossible to effectively manage their affairs. Any competent executive, coming into a situation like this would immediately move to blow it up and put it back together and implement the right controls. Why don't they do that? Only one reason and is because they don't want to. Doing that would eliminate the opportunities to spiff contributors, friends, etc and a government without the ability to facility to engage in corrpution is untenable.