Halliburton: Staff took kickbacks
NEW YORK (Reuters) -- Oil services company Halliburton Co has told the Pentagon that two employees took up to $6 million in kickbacks for awarding a Kuwaiti-based company with work supplying U.S. troops in Iraq, the Wall Street Journal said Friday.
It is the first solid indication of corruption involving U.S.-funded projects in Iraq, and could expose the company to fines and potential fraud charges, the paper said.
The company has fired the two unnamed employees, who were based in Kuwait, according to the paper.
Last week, Halliburton, which has tallied nearly $6 billion in U.S. military business in Iraq, defended its record after Pentagon auditors asked for an investigation into suspected price gouging for fuel by the company's Kellogg Brown & Root unit.
The fuel pricing issue has dogged Halliburton for months after Democrats raised questions over why the company was charging nearly double the going rate to bring in fuel via Kuwait rather than the cheaper route, Turkey.
Company officials could not immediately be reached for comment.
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