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Army major in court over $9m bribery claim
A US army major is scheduled to appear in court today charged with what a Congressional investigator describes as the biggest bribery case to come out of Iraq since the US took over four years ago. Major John Cockerham, 41, who was arrested last week, is accused of accepting millions of dollars in bribes from businessmen who had contracts in Iraq and Kuwait. Maj Cockerham, a contracting and procurement officer assigned to Fort Sam Houston, Texas, denies the charges. He is due in court in San Antonio, Texas, with his wife, Melissa, 40, and sister, Carolyn Blake, 44, a former schoolteacher, to request bail.The US justice department said records indicated he might have received up to $9.6m (£4.74m), with the possibility of a further $5.4m in the pipeline. Stuart Bowen, who was appointed by Congress to investigate mismanagement and corruption in relation to the $44bn spent so far on reconstruction projects in Iraq, told the San Antonio Express-News that the amounts involved in the alleged bribery were the largest "that's come out of the Iraq reconstruction experience". Mr Bowen, who reports to Congress every three months, has referred 28 cases to the justice department for prosecution. Maj Cockerham is charged with bribery, money laundering and conspiracy in relation to his service as an army contracting officer in Kuwait in 2004 and 2005. Both his wife and his sister were charged with conspiracy to defraud the government and conspiracy to commit money laundering, the justice department said. All three face up to 20 years in prison and $500,000 in fines. Investigators say the payments occurred in 2004 and 2005, with the money being deposited at banks in the Middle East and then moved to offshore banks in the Caribbean, according to court records. The biggest bribery case in relation to Iraq reconstruction so far has been $4m. In his quarterly report published yesterday, Mr Bowen said his agency had carried out 95 audits which had led to 13 arrests and five convictions. Posted by: Steve White 2007-07-31 |
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