dirty
EOG Master
The U.S. Defense Department says that a flawed system designed to rush supplies to troops in Iraq and Afghanistan let a small-parts supplier improperly collect almost a million dollars to ship two 19-cent washers.
The lock-washer incident was the last in a series of abuses by twin sisters running a South Carolina company that milked the Pentagon out of over $20 million in fraudulent shipping costs.
The owners of 'C&D Distributors' of Lexington, South Carolina, supplied hardware components, plumbing fixtures, electronic equipment and other items. The company fabricated shipping costs into the hundreds of thousands of dollars although the value of the items purchased rarely was more than $100.
Related shipping costs were processed automatically "to streamline the resupply of items to combat troops in Iraq and Afghanistan" a government spokesperson says.
While a Pentagon spokesman, Brian Maka, says: "loopholes in the automated purchasing system have been fixed and the ill-gotten gains were being returned to the U.S. Treasury. We have put in place the internal controls necessary to make sure that something like this doesn't happen again."
One of the two sisters, 47-year-old Charlene Corley, as well as her company, pleaded guilty to wire-fraud and money-laundering conspiracy charges. While her twin, Darlene Wooten, committed suicide after being contacted by investigators about the fraud.
The Pentagon hopes to recoup most of the $20 million by the auctioning homes, beach property, jewelry and luxury cars that the sisters spent the money on.
The News Vault - US Defense Paid $1 Million To Ship Two 19-Cent Washers - Rip Off Scam Money
The lock-washer incident was the last in a series of abuses by twin sisters running a South Carolina company that milked the Pentagon out of over $20 million in fraudulent shipping costs.
The owners of 'C&D Distributors' of Lexington, South Carolina, supplied hardware components, plumbing fixtures, electronic equipment and other items. The company fabricated shipping costs into the hundreds of thousands of dollars although the value of the items purchased rarely was more than $100.
Related shipping costs were processed automatically "to streamline the resupply of items to combat troops in Iraq and Afghanistan" a government spokesperson says.
While a Pentagon spokesman, Brian Maka, says: "loopholes in the automated purchasing system have been fixed and the ill-gotten gains were being returned to the U.S. Treasury. We have put in place the internal controls necessary to make sure that something like this doesn't happen again."
One of the two sisters, 47-year-old Charlene Corley, as well as her company, pleaded guilty to wire-fraud and money-laundering conspiracy charges. While her twin, Darlene Wooten, committed suicide after being contacted by investigators about the fraud.
The Pentagon hopes to recoup most of the $20 million by the auctioning homes, beach property, jewelry and luxury cars that the sisters spent the money on.
The News Vault - US Defense Paid $1 Million To Ship Two 19-Cent Washers - Rip Off Scam Money
