WASHINGTON — Halliburton Co. executives ordered a big-screen television and 10 large tubs of tacos, chicken wings and cheese sticks delivered to Iraq for last year's Super Bowl, then billed U.S. taxpayers for their party, according to a lawsuit unsealed Friday.
The Houston-based company also defrauded the government by double- and triple-billing for Internet, food and gym services for soldiers, according to the lawsuit by a former employee for KBR, the Halliburton subsidiary that runs dining halls for troops in Iraq.
"The administration is not enforcing the laws against fraud when it comes to contractors in Iraq," said Alan Grayson, the attorney who filed the suit. "When it comes to seeing that the law is executed, the Bush administration is a no-show."
Halliburton denied the allegations, filed under the False Claims Act. Designed to prevent war profiteering, such lawsuits allow citizens to sue on behalf of the government and recover a portion of any damages.
The company did not deny ordering the TV and the food; it set up snack buffets and screenings at military bases throughout Iraq for the 2005 Super Bowl. But KBR noted that its contract allowed the firm to provide recreation and morale-boosting services for its employees and for American soldiers.
"The claims included in this lawsuit clearly demonstrate a complete misinterpretation of facts as well as a lack of understanding of KBR's contractual agreements with its customer, the U.S. Army," Halliburton spokeswoman Melissa Norcross said.
The accusations in the lawsuit are the latest involving Halliburton's controversial multibillion-dollar contract to feed and house American soldiers in Iraq. Democrats have been quick to criticize the company, which was run by Vice President Dick Cheney from 1995 to 2000.
In June, a KBR subcontractor was indicted on kickback charges involving the dining halls, which feed tens of thousands of soldiers a day in camps throughout Iraq and Kuwait. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has withheld $55.1 million out of a total of $13.7 billion in payments on the contract as a result of disputed costs.
The Department of Justice chose not to join the lawsuit against Halliburton after conducting an investigation. Justice officials declined to elaborate Friday, but in legal circles such a decision is usually considered indication of a weak case.
