Halliburton to refund $27m for meals
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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg, Brown and Root (KBR) will refund the U.S. government $27.4 million for potential over-billings at five dining halls in Iraq and Kuwait, according to a Pentagon statement.
The move comes after Pentagon auditors discovered a potential problem in the way the contractor charges the government to feed its troops in Iraq and Kuwait.
The latest issue surrounds potential over-billing for food served at five bases in Iraq and Kuwait during a nine-month period last year by KBR.
The potential cost overrun was discovered during a routine evaluation of a logistics contract submitted by the contractor.
The audit found that KBR possibly overcharged more than $16 million for meals served at a U.S. base in Kuwait, a statement said Friday.
During the same audit, four other bases in Iraq and Kuwait serviced by KBR were found to have had similar possible overcharges of $11.4 million, Pentagon officials said.
A separate statement from Halliburton said: "This is not about overcharging. This is about finding a good way to estimate the number of meals so soldiers can get fed.
"It's difficult to determine how many people will be at the dinner table in the middle of a war zone and the number must be based on estimates."
The statement said KBR would halt charging the government until an improved method of pricing the meals was agreed upon by both parties.
Pentagon auditors are evaluating costs at 53 other dining facilities in Iraq and Kuwait also serviced by KBR.
All of the contracting companies doing work in Iraq with the U.S. undergo Pentagon audits.
KBR is the largest of those companies with some $8 billion in contracts.
Halliburton came under fire last month over whether or not it overcharged for fuel delivered to Iraqi civilians.
Pentagon auditors are still looking into the case.
