US newspaper: Maliki and his son and son-in-law dealt with a company played a role in providing bribes to win US security contracts
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Former Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and his son-in-law and son-in-law with a company that played a role in bribes to win US security contracts, the daily Dailybest reported on Thursday.
The US Justice Department is investigating the US military contracting firm, Sayleport Global Services, to make sure it has played a role in bribing Iraqi officials in return for winning extraordinary contracts, but even FBI officials may not really understand the depth of corruption expected, the paper said.
She said influential individuals, including Nuri al-Maliki, had connections with a Kuwaiti company called Afaq, which allegedly sold access to and facilities for a large number of US military contracts.
The newspaper pointed out that the story of the company Horizons and its relations with US military contractors in Iraq came from two amounts disclosed with their information, despite the fact that this poses a personal risk to them.
“We have been able to verify the credibility of several details through common and common documents.
The newspaper said it had met with more than 30 sources, including contractors and business people in Iraq, who asked not to be named for fear of possible reactions. One of them refused to speak more, saying “this is very secret.”
“Saliport operates military facilities in various parts of the Middle East and Central Asia, but the jewel of the company’s crown is located at Balad Air Base, a base in northern Baghdad that includes F-16s funded by the US government,” he said.
“In January 2014, Saaliport received a contract from the Air Force to provide security support, training and protection services to Al Qaeda, including essential services such as food and electric power at the base, where Saaliport received $ 1.1 billion for its services at the base.
And expects to earn another $ 800 million by 2021, just before the acquisition of the BALAD contract, Saliport signed a deal with a company called Afaq Umm Qasr Marine Services.
The newspaper quoted sources from the company Saliport as well as other sources of senior associates at the base of the country’s office and the company’s head office in Virginia, described by Afaq as a “partner”.
According to the newspaper, four sources said that the alleged activities of Afaq on behalf of the company Saliport attracted the attention of the US Department of Justice.
Saliport is a contract company run by a holding company called Caliporn, owned by DC Capital Partners, a US private equity firm.
The investigation revealed that “documents filed by the Commission for Security and Exchange of Caliborn reveal that in October 2016 claimed an associate in the Iraqi Ministry of Defense that the company Afaq promised Iraqi government officials to provide funds for them to register the name of the company Saliport as a contractor to provide services to the base of Balad.
As a country that is an Iraqi base, the Iraqi government has the right to determine the contractor hired to work there.
The newspaper pointed out that 17 sources confirmed the links of Afaq officials of the Iraqi government, a former member of the leadership of the company Taliport in the base of Balad said that “the company Horizons to facilitate matters with Iraqi officials, while revealing ten sources according to the newspaper, some of them have direct information on the involvement of Maliki , Where they said that “Maliki has full dominance of Afaq, while the information of the other section was secondary.”
The sources said that “the son of al-Maliki, Ahmed al-Maliki and then his brother-in-law Yassir Sakhil al-Maliki, a current deputy, also deal with prospects,” indicating that “the former prime minister does not manage all the details of prospects,” but they claimed that he receives a wage and that relationship was successful for Saleport.
According to a former senior official at Balad, when Saliport officials were meeting Maliki, Afaq’s management arranged the meeting.
“The US Department of Justice is now investigating possible violations of US laws that limit external corrupt practices that Salliport has committed through its relationship with Afaq. The Caliborn file states that the government investigation looks into whether the former management of Saliport Knowing or supposed to have knowledge of alleged bribes promised by Afaq to Iraqi government officials. ”
“Afaq started as a joint stock company with a Kuwaiti company called American United Logistics, or US logistics, owned by former US military logistics officers,” the documents said.
The investigation said, “American United operated the loading of goods at the port of Umm Qasr, and by 2007 the company had strange control over US military shipments through the port.
According to the investigation, one of the sources of American United said: “There was no competitor to it.” But the company was shut down by 2013 due to serious issues related to its reputation. American United was dependent on Iraqi truck drivers to avoid attacks by insurgents who often targeted Kuwaiti trucks. In order to pay the wages of drivers, it created Iraqi companies that were eventually brought together in one company under the management of a person named Sami al-Asadi in 2008. ”
Al-Asadi controlled the cargo traffic at Umm Qasr. Later, because of disagreements with American United, it lost control of Umm Qasr. Asadi found a new way out and began dealing with companies such as Saliport.
She added that “Sami al-Asadi and Saaliport continued to convince the company because of his relationship with government officials.”
The newspaper said that the first contract revealed between Afaq and Saaliport may have occurred in 2012. Where the company signed a deal with another security and logistics services with another base, the base of Spyker in Tikrit until it happens, but the organization is urging in 2014.
Spyker later became the site of the worst war crimes committed by the organization in Iraq, where they massacred nearly 1,700 trainees from the air force near them. But before the fall of Tikrit, Saliport, according to a former contractor, was in debt with prospects, and this is confirmed by several other sources.
“There was a contract in 2012 between Afaq and Saliport for Al-Qaeda in Tikrit,” a former Saliport official told the newspaper. The contract was in 50/50 arrangement and was paid. ” This means that Saalport has paid for half of its interest in Al Qaeda.
“When Saliport was negotiating with Afaq, Nuri al-Maliki was one of the most influential people in the country. In September 2014, after the invasion of a pro-Iraqi organization, Maliki’s government collapsed. This was a major blow to Al-Maliki and his family, as well as other commercial entities that supported him, including Afaq. ”
“The deal with Afaq lasted for two years after Maliki lost the premiership while Saliport’s leadership, which negotiated the completion of the contract, continued to work for the company,” the sources said. In the year 2016, Saaliport stopped paying wages to Afaq. ”
“Saliport said to Afaq,” Go to hell, we will not pay you, go to court, we do not care, “the newspaper quoted a person familiar with the cancellation of the contract as saying.
In August 2016, the Prosecution filed a lawsuit against Taliport in the Iraqi courts to charge it $ 70 million and pay $ 90 million. Both cases were lost in terms of obligations but they did not give up. Then resumed the prospects of the case and won. A Court of Cassation ruled that Saleport was a city of prospects for more than $ 56 million. However, the amount was not reimbursed because Saliport challenged the decision and won again for failing to provide sufficient evidence.
According to the investigation, “sources confirmed that” the loss of Spyker base did not affect the prospects .. Now linked to a contract with the US company SOSi through a joint stock company with prospects called Shahd East. They are partners in two other bases, the Taji base and Basmaya base.
“Control of the government has taken place in Iraq with a broad executive authority over the military and security services and control over the sources of money,” the Daily First quoted a former senior Western official who served in several rounds in Iraq as saying after briefing Afaq.
“Suspicious funds as well as our military industry. In the end, the US government gave Maliki money to help build a real shadow government. Maliki’s corruption has directly helped the emergence of an advocate. ”