TOPICS
TOPICS
Audit questions SBA awards to security giant Blackwater
Blackwater Worldwide and the private security company's affiliates may have misrepresented their size to win more than $100 million in government contracts set aside for small businesses, according to a report released Monday by the Small Business Administration's Office of Inspector General.
The audit found that from fiscal 2005 to fiscal 2007, Blackwater and affiliates won 32 small business contracts worth more than $2.1 million even though the work was restricted to companies with revenue of $6.5 million or less.
In the same period, Blackwater's airline affiliate won more than $107 million in contracts set aside for companies with revenues of less than $25.5 million or fewer than 1,500 employees.
The IG report questioned whether Blackwater could meet any of those limits and says the company may have misrepresented itself. Blackwater executives said last week they are on track to reach annual revenues of $1 billion per year by 2010.
The report also criticized the SBA for not examining Blackwater's contention that its security forces in Iraq and Afghanistan are not employees, but independent contractors.
Anne Tyrrell, a spokeswoman for North Carolina-based Blackwater, said in a statement that "expert accounting and outside legal counsel have determined that Blackwater's classification of security personnel as independent contractors is reasonable, correct and legally protected. ... If after fair and complete examination of the facts, the appropriate authorities have alternate recommendations about our worker classification, we are open to considering other options so long as we can continue to serve our government clients in the best way possible."
The audit was requested by House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif.
COMMENTS
- SBA is a joke! Unless you grease the skids, they won't do a thing to help real small business and on the other end, they let major corporations slip in. A travesty! But then again, there are few aspects of the FED acquisition and contracting process that isn't wasteful and counter productive. (Also, those drunken Blackwater s-o-b's actually fired on me in the Green Zone! They all can go burn in hades.) MLJ Posted July 30, 2008 4:25 PM
- Dan, ask anybody with knowledge of the military and they will confirm that Bush and the GOP have gutted our military readiness and veterans care. We have soldiers losing their homes while serving in Iraq (with damaged gear) while Blackwater mercs take home six figures and have the best body armor tax dollars can buy. KBR electrocutes our troops with faulty wiring, and then threatens to cut off food to our troops if the Pentagon withholds payment on falsified charges. Please get some REAL information and stop just parroting GOP talking points for ten years ago. You do your own cause a disservice by not knowing what you're talking about. Bill Posted July 30, 2008 4:18 PM
- Once more, sloooowly, the military has ALWAYS undergone expansions and contractions. From the War of 1812 until this era of conflicts rather than wars, the military has always been in flux of one kind or another. Let’s TRY to set the record straight. The attack on US soil took place on 9/11/2001. The invasion of Iraq took place 17 months later. No increase in the armed forces had occurred. On January 10, 2007, Bush announced changes in the administration's political and military strategy in the Iraq; only after the slap down election of 2006 and the shameful dismissal of Rummy. “The plan resulted in an Iraqi-led initiative to secure Baghdad starting in February 2007, with 28,000 additional U.S. troops in place by June 15, 2007” 5 years and 9 months later, still no “surge” in OVERALL troop strength. The vote cast for the overall US military troop expansion did not occur until the Blue Dogs accomplished it. Skeeter, if you are going to constantly blame the old regime for everything at least be consistent, man! If troop level cut backs almost a decade ago are the current reason the military are decimated, then I suppose Slick Willie is also the reason for the housing/mortgage crunch; and the economy today. Eh… that WAS sarcasm, okay? Once more I see an unreasonable defense of the true “feather merchants” for marketing squalor to our hard pressed soldiers. The inequities between the treatment of the military, the civil servants, and the contractors are shameful! These troop levels have been capriciously kept low to justify the sacking of the Treasury. With 5 years to build up, there is no reason for Blackwater to still be in the Iraq Theater let alone in competition with the military for the security business. Tip off Posted July 30, 2008 4:14 PM
