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Kaslin WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States handed out nearly $20 billion of Iraq's funds, with a rush to spend billions in the final days before tr ansferring power to the Iraqis nearly a year ago, a report said on Tuesd ay. Henry Waxman (news, bio, voting record) of Ca lifornia, said in the week before the hand-over on June 28, 2004, the U S-led Coalition Provisional Authority ordered the urgent delivery of mo re than $4 billion in Iraqi funds from the US Federal Reserve in New Y ork. Most of these funds came from frozen and seized assets and from the Devel opment Fund for Iraq, which succeeded the UN's oil-for-food program. A fter the US invasion, the UN directed this money should be used by t he CPA for the benefit of the Iraqi people. Cash was loaded onto giant pallets for shipment by plane to Iraq, and pai d out to contractors who carried it away in duffel bags. The report, released at a House of Representatives committee hearing, sai d despite the huge amount of money, there was little US scrutiny in ho w these assets were managed. "The disbursement of these funds was characterized by significant waste, fraud and abuse," said Waxman. CASES OF ABUSE Auditors found problems safeguarding funds including one instance where a CPA comptroller did not have access to a field safe as the key was loca ted in an unsecured backpack. Bowen's office has referred three criminal cases to the US Attorney's O ffice in the past two weeks for misuse of funds. In one e-mail released in Waxman's report with the subject line "Pocket C hange," a CPA official stressed the need to get money flowing fast befor e the handover. Stephen Lynch (news, bio, voting record) of Massachusetts, a Democra t, questioned why so much money had to be transferred so fast. Senior defense official Joseph Benkert said an infusion of funds was need ed to address a wide variety of needs before the new Iraqi government to ok over. Part of the challenge in tracking how money was spent was the cash enviro nment and lack of electronic transfers. Contractors were told to turn up with big duffel bags to pick up their pa yments and some were paid from the back of pick-up trucks. One picture shows grinning CPA officials standing in front of a pile of c ash said to be worth $2 million to be paid to a security contractor. Christopher Shays (news, bio, voting record) of Connecticut, a Repub lican, said the photograph disturbed him. "It looks a little loose to me ," he said, of the smiling officials. Citing documents from the US Federal Reserve Bank in New York, Waxman s aid the United States flew in nearly $12 billion overall in US currenc y to Iraq from the United States between May 2003 and June 2004. This money was used to pay for Iraqi salaries, fund Iraqi ministries and also to pay some US contractors. In total, more than 281 million individual bills, including more than 107 million $100 bills, were shipped to Iraq on giant pallets loaded onto C -130 planes, the report said.
View Replies To: Kaslin Waxman wouldn't know his backside from a hole in the ground. Nobody here in California takes anything that comes out of his mouth worth anything.
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