As dissent against the war in Iraq grows and reports of underequipped soldiers continue to surface, the federal government has begun cracking down on alleged war-profiteering scam artists.
In March, ex-Halliburton manager Jeff Mazon and Kuwaiti businessman Ali Hijazi were indicted in connection with a kickback scheme authorities say swindled the U.S. military out of $3.5 million meant to supply fuel tankers.
Yesterday, another former Halliburton employee, Glenn Allen Powell, was sentenced to 15 months in prison after pleading guilty to taking more than $110,000 in bribes from an Iraqi company.
And Robert Stein, a 50-year-old North Carolina man in charge of overseeing $82 million in Iraqi war funds, was charged with taking bribes from New Jersey contractor Philip Bloom. Stein and his wife allegedly netted cars, jewelry and hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash.