US Contractor Admits Bribery for Jobs in Iraq
BY GRIFF WITTE
The Washington
Post
Occupation
officials got cash and gifts for deals.
An American
businessman who is at the heart of one of the biggest corruption cases to
emerge from the reconstruction of Iraq has pleaded guilty to conspiracy,
bribery and money-laundering charges, according to documents unsealed
yesterday in federal court in Washington.
As part of the
plea, Philip H. Bloom admitted his part in a scheme to give more than $2
million in cash and gifts to U.S. officials in exchange for their help in
getting reconstruction contracts for his companies. Bloom's firms won $8.6
million in reconstruction deals, with an average profit margin of more
than 25 percent.
Yesterday's
filings included e-mails that provide insight into the fraud. In one, an
Army Reserve officer who allegedly helped Bloom secure his contracts
expresses gratitude for Bloom's largesse.
"The truck is
Great!!! I needed a new truck . . . People I work with cannot stop
commenting on how much they love it," the officer wrote in a Sept. 2,
2004, message to Bloom. The officer then added a bit of reassurance: "If
there were any smoking guns, they would have been found months ago."
The reassurance
was premature. Bloom's deals soon attracted the interest of investigators,
and the case has ensnared three officials of the U.S.-led Coalition
Provisional Authority, which ran
Iraq
for a year after Saddam Hussein's regime was toppled.
More arrests
are likely. The documents unsealed yesterday refer to an unidentified
co-conspirator who was chief of staff for the CPA office in Al-Hillah,
which supervised the reconstruction of all of south-central Iraq.
According to
Bloom's plea agreement, which was signed in February, he faces up to 40
years in prison, five years of supervised release and a fine of $750,000.
He also must repay the government $3.6 million and forfeit $3.6 million in
assets.
John N.
Nassikas, Bloom's attorney, said that his client is cooperating with
investigators and that he hopes to have Bloom's prison sentence reduced.
Bloom's
cooperation may provide investigators with further insight into a case
that highlights how some were able to exploit the chaotic, freewheeling
and cash-rich environment that characterized Iraq in the months after the
U.S. invasion. That initial period was marked by little oversight, but
that changed as auditors have fanned out across the country looking for
signs of impropriety.
"This shows
oversight is working," said Stuart W. Bowen Jr., special inspector general
for Iraq reconstruction, whose office uncovered Bloom's crimes. "It will
send a message to those involved in similar schemes that we are on the
case."
Bowen said his
office is investigating 70 other cases that involve criminal allegations.
The Bloom case
came to light in November when he and CPA official Robert J. Stein Jr.
were charged with fraud, money-laundering and conspiracy - the first
criminal corruption case arising from the
Iraq
reconstruction. Stein, already a convicted felon when he was hired as a
CPA contracting officer, pleaded guilty in February.
Two others have
been charged in connection with the case. They are Michael Brian Wheeler
and Debra Harrison, both lieutenant colonels in the Army Reserve.
The court
papers unsealed yesterday paint a picture of how Bloom, a businessman with
operations in the United States and Romania, used gifts of cash, cars,
plane tickets and jewelry to secure lucrative reconstruction contracts
from December 2003 to December 2005. Bloom also supplied women to provide
sexual favors at his Baghdad villa to the CPA officials who helped ensure
that his companies won the contracts he wanted.
In many cases,
the documents show, Bloom submitted multiple bids on the same contracts
but did so under different names to disguise the fact that the CPA
officials were steering the deals his way. He also used elaborate
money-laundering tactics to hide the bribes he handed out in return.
E-mail
exchanges between Bloom and his conspirators show that they had highly
specific demands for what bribes they wanted. One official coveted a 2004
GMC Yukon sport-utility vehicle with all-wheel drive, a "Summit White"
exterior and a "Sandstone Leather" interior. Another, the chief of staff,
apparently instructed Bloom through an intermediary that he wanted an
electric-blue Nissan 350Z hard-top convertible but that there were only
two such cars in the western United States. "There is a car in California
that has all these features, plus a satellite radio. Cost (including
shipping to Salt Lake City): $35,990," the unidentified intermediary wrote
to Bloom in a June 25, 2004, message.
Another
official wrote to Bloom two months later: "I'll let you know when I
actually pick up the car. At that point you'll get a great big thank you
and I owe you from me." Posted by Bulatlat
BACK TO
TOP ■
COMMENT
© 2006 Bulatlat
■
Alipato Publications
Permission is granted to reprint or redistribute this article, provided
its author/s and Bulatlat are properly credited and notified.