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Editor: Mike Bothwell
Profession: Qui Tam Attorney

Category: Qui Tam Legal News

When the Reader's Digest runs a story on fraud on the U.S. government's Iraq contracts, it is no longer a "breaking story".

Even the Reader's Digest has figured out that the U.S. government was begging people to steal taxpayer's money in Iraq. The article focuses on Robert Stein, who was a key administrator of U.S. monies in Iraq even though he had been convicted in 1996 for credit card fraud. Now, Stein has pled guilty to accepting bribes and otherwise absconding with millions of dollars in money and luxury items (such as a Cessna airplane).

It's sickening to know that someone would put profit and pleasure ahead of the war effort while our troops and Iraqis are dying. But what's even more infuriating is the lack of oversight of a multibillion-dollar commitment. According to a 2005 report, there was no accurate accounting for about $9 billion spent early in the occupation. U.S. officials in Iraq have done a terrible job of auditing reconstruction dollars, the lion's share of which comes from taxpayers like you and me. And it's not just scheming contractors; Iraqis are skimming big bucks too. There are even reports that money is being diverted to fund the insurgency.

Perhaps the greater lesson from fraud, waste and abuse in Iraq is not Iraq, but fraud on the government in general. Iraq seemed to bring together all the typical schemes for defrauding the taxpayers of America out of their hard earned money. But, this goes on in the U.S. every day.

Simply because government employees are inept, corrupt or simply underfunded does not make the actions of those who abscond with taxpayer's monies less culpable. The government's most effective tool for fighting fraud, waste and abuse is still the qui tam action under the False Claims Act. When the next few settlements come in, the total tax dollars recovered under the FCA should reach nearly $20 billion since the FCA was amended 20 years ago. However, far more money is lost to fraud each year than is recovered.

Iraq is just a microcosm of what happens all over the country every day. It is time to rise up and fight back.