US Occupation Authority in
Iraq Lost Track of Nearly $9B
Voice of America
31 January 2005
An audit by a U.S. inspector says the U.S.-led authority that
governed Iraq after the 2003 invasion failed to keep track of
nearly $9 billion it transferred to Iraqi ministries.
The audit released Sunday by the U.S. Special Inspector
General for Iraq Reconstruction says the Coalition Provisional
Authority failed to establish control systems to verify how the
money was spent, which opened it to corruption.
In some instances, money was used to pay what the report calls
"ghost" employees, explaining that out of 8,206 guards on the
payroll at one ministry, only 602 could be accounted for.
Former CPA chief Paul Bremer rejected the findings, saying the
report assumes western-style accounting procedures could have
been quickly set up during wartime.
Mr. Bremer says delaying payment to Iraqi public servants
could have created additional security threats.
Some information for this report provided by AP and Reuters.
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