http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGBOO6SGAXD.htmlU.S. Authorities Didn't Keep Track of Iraq Reconstruction Spending, Audit Says
By Matt Kelley
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - U.S. authorities in Baghdad spent hundreds of millions of Iraqi dollars without keeping good enough records to show whether they got some services and products they paid for, government investigators said.
Officials of the former Coalition Provisional Authority did not have records to justify the $24.7 million cost for replacing Iraq's currency, according to the report from the authority's inspector general. The report also said the authority paid nearly $200,000 for 15 police trucks without knowing if the trucks were delivered.
The report, released in Washington late Wednesday, is the first formal audit of contracting procedures under the authority, which oversaw billions of dollars in reconstruction spending that critics say was doled out without proper controls. <snip>
In a report to Congress being released Friday, the authority's inspector general, Stuart W. Bowen Jr., said his teams found several management problems. Bowen's office is investigating 27 possible criminal cases and has closed or referred for prosecution 42 others.
One example was poor control over an oil pipeline repair contract that resulted in more than $3 million in overcharges, including billing for work not done. Also, the assistant to the U.S. military coach for an Iraqi sports team gambled away part of the $40,000 allocated for team travel to tournaments.
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