Pentagon: British firm billed US $50M for iffy expenses - PBS

WASHINGTON — A British company hired to help train Afghan intelligence officers billed the U.S. government for more than $50 million in questionable expenses that included luxury cars and exorbitant salaries paid to the “significant others” of the company’s top executives, according to a Pentagon audit.

New Century Consulting also spent $42,000 on automatic weapons, using cash to get around a prohibition in the contract on purchasing the firearms, and showered other personnel with hefty pay and bonuses they hadn’t earned. Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill summarized the audit’s major findings in a letter to Defense Secretary Jim Mattis that she planned to release on Wednesday.

McCaskill, the top ranking Democrat on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, is demanding to know which Defense Department office was responsible for overseeing the work, what steps are being taken to recover the millions of dollars in disputed payments, and whether the U.S. government has considered prohibiting New Century Consulting from receiving new federal contracts.

“Despite all of the listed issues with (New Century Consulting’s) performance and billing practices, the Army continued to engage in contracting with NCC for sensitive work in Afghanistan,” McCaskill wrote in the letter obtained by The Associated Press. - More, PBS

Pentagon: British firm billed US $50M for iffy expenses