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Heckuva Job, Paulie! - US President George W. Bush (rear) presents former CPA head Amb. Paul Bremer with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in Washington DC, in 2004. US contractor pleaded guilty to bribing American officials in charge of Iraq reconstruction to ensure contracts worth 8.6 million dollars were granted to his building companies, US authorities said.US contractor pleads guilty to corruption in Iraq reconstruction
US Army Officers also arrested<!-- END HEADLINE -->
<!-- BEGIN STORY BODY -->Tue Apr 18, 6:07 PM ET
A US contractor pleaded guilty to bribing American officials in charge of Iraq reconstruction to ensure contracts worth 8.6 million dollars were granted to his building companies, US authorities said.
Philip Bloom pleaded guilty to conspiracy, bribery and money laundering in connection with a scheme to defraud the US-led Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) overseeing the rebuilding of south-central Iraq, the US Department of Justice and the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction announced in a joint statement.
The CPA, led by US overseer Paul Bremer, was a US-entity set up to govern Iraq after the defeat of Saddam Hussein's regime in 2003. Its south-central offices were based in the city of Al-Hillah.
From December 2003 through December 2005, Bloom and the CPA's comptroller and funding officer for southern-central Iraq, Robert Stein, as well as several US army officers, "conspired to rig the bids on federally-funded contracts . . . so that all of the contracts were awarded to Bloom."
Bloom, described as a US citizen who resided in Romania and Iraq, admitted paying Stein and other public officials more than two million dollars in money and gifts in return for getting the contracts.
Bloom, Stein, and others also arranged wire transfers of money from "fraudulently awarded bids and at least 2 million dollars in stolen money from the CPA," the statement read.
Iraq's reconstruction effort "must be free from the taint of corruption, and we will continue to pursue these cases to the fullest extent of the law," said Assistant Attorney General Alice Fisher in the statement.
The Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, Stuart Bowen, said that Bloom's plea shows that "oversight works."
Bloom faces up to 40 years in prison and a fine of 750,000 dollars. He must also pay 3.6 million dollars in restitution and forfeit 3.6 million dollars in assets to the US government.
Stein pleaded guilty in February to charges of conspiracy, bribery, money laundering, as well as possession of machine guns and being a felon in possession of a firearm, in connection with the CPA swindle scheme.
Two reserve army reserve lieutanant colonels, Michael Wheeler and Debra Harrison, were arrested and are out on bond in connection with the case. They face charges including bribery, conspiracy and money laundering.