POL: Halliburton gets $72 mln bonus

[chinaski]

another political thread, but i just cant help myself on this one...
hxxp://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=businessNews&storyID=8444832

Halliburton gets $72 mln bonus
Tue May 10, 2005 02:40 PM ET

By Sue Pleming WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Army said on Tuesday it had awarded $72 million in bonuses to Halliburton Co. (HAL.N: Quote, Profile, Research) for logistics work in Iraq but had not decided whether to give the Texas company bonuses for disputed dining services to troops.

Army Field Support Command in Rock Island, Illinois, said in a statement it had given Halliburton unit Kellogg Brown & Root ratings from "excellent" to "very good" for six task orders for work supporting U.S. troops in Iraq.

The Army said its Award Fee Board in Iraq had met in March and had agreed to pay KBR bonuses for work it did in support of U.S. forces there.

But it said dining facility costs questioned by auditors from the Defense Contract Audit Agency had not yet been considered by the military's Award Fee Board.

The Army said it could not immediately provide more details on when the dining fee bonuses would be resolved.

Much of Halliburton's work for the U.S. military, ranging from building bases to delivering mail, is on a cost-plus basis, which means the company can earn up to 2 percent extra depending on its performance.

Bonuses are awarded based on, among other factors, how efficient and responsible the company is to requests from the Army and is an indicator of how the Army views KBR's performance in the field.

KBR's logistics deal with the U.S. military has been in the spotlight from the outset in Iraq, with allegations by auditors that they overcharged for some work, including dining services.

In addition, investigators are looking into whether the Texas-based firm charged too much to supply fuel to Iraqi civilians, a claim the firm says is not justified.

Halliburton, which was run by Vice President Dick Cheney until he joined the 2000 race for the White House, has earned more than $7 billion under its 2001 logistics contract with the U.S. military.

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How many counts of fraud can they be indicted on before we stop giving them bonuses? Why is it we can cut funding to multiple social programs or schools etc, but we can give Halliburton an extra 72 million? vomit.

[Joe]

only $72 million? I'm a little disappointed in them.

[Glengoyne]

Originally Posted by chinaski

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How many counts of fraud can they be indicted on before we stop giving them bonuses? Why is it we can cut funding to multiple social programs or schools etc, but we can give Halliburton an extra 72 million? vomit.

I'm guessing because Halliburton is taking care of the support needs of our troops in the field, while at least some of the social programs haven't delivered as promised. Just a guess though.

Also I'm not sure they've actually been indicted for anything. The Pentagons auditors red flagged some charges for review, and determined that some were unwarranted. The company disputed/challenged at least some of those findings, and I don't know that the issue has been resolved. There was also an issue where a couple of employees and/or a contractor for Halliburton had participated in either price-fixing or overcharging.

Pretty much none of the Halliburton "scandal" has amounted to anything.