U.S. Opens Oil Pricing Probe of Halliburton
The Pentagon said Monday it had opened a criminal investigation into a subsidiary of Halliburton over allegations of overcharging for fuel delivered to Iraq.
The fraud investigation focuses on Halliburton subsidiary KBR, formerly known as Kellogg Brown & Root, a Pentagon spokeswoman said.
“The Defense Criminal Investigative Service, the criminal investigative arm of the inspector general’s office, is investigating allegations on the part of KBR of fraud, including the potential overpricing of fuel delivered to Baghdad by a KBR subcontractor,” she said.
Halliburton, an oil services company based in Houston, is the biggest contractor for the U.S. military in Iraq.
The contracts have drawn intense scrutiny from Democrats because of the firm’s ties to Vice President Dick Cheney, who ran the company from 1995 to 2000.
There was no immediate comment from Halliburton or the White House.
Suspected overpricing of fuel was first raised in a draft audit by the military last year that found evidence the company might have overcharged for fuel brought into Iraq from Kuwait by at least $61 million.
The company has denied any wrongdoing.
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