Former PM Maliki accused of corruption, U.S. DOJ investigates
Former Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki might be exposed as one of the corrupted officials according a recent investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice.
The Department of Justice is investigating a military contracting company, Sallyport Global Services, to find out if it played a role in the alleged bribery of Iraqi government officials in exchange for exclusive contracts that cost American taxpayers billions.
An investigation by the independent Government Accountability Project for The Daily Beast raised disturbing questions that go far beyond rogue employees of a Pentagon contractor.
Powerful individuals, including Maliki, are tied to a Kuwaiti company called Afaq which allegedly sold access and dictated terms for a significant number of American military contracts.
The story of Afaq and its ties to American military contractors in Iraq comes from whistleblowers, who spoke out at great personal risk, and we were able to confirm several details through public and corporate documents.
Of the more than 30 sources interviewed, including contractors and people in business in Iraq, all asked to remain anonymous, citing fear of potential retaliation.
In January 2014, Sallyport acquired an Air Force contract to provide security, training, and “life support,” which means providing necessities like food and electricity, on base. Sallyport has received $1.1 billion for its work at Balad. It predicts it will earn $800 million more by 2021.
Sallyport operates military installations throughout the Middle East and Central Asia, but its crown jewel is Balad Air Base, a large F-16 base north of Baghdad.
Balad is an Iraqi base, but it’s funded by the U.S. government.
Afaq is ultimately controlled by al-Maliki, according to 10 sources, some of whom had firsthand knowledge of al-Maliki’s involvement, while other sources’ information was secondhand.
Al-Maliki’s son, Ahmad al-Maliki, and later his son-in-law, Yasser Sukhail al-Maliki, were also involved with Afaq, sources said.