WASHINGTON – The security company Blackwater Worldwide formed a network of 30 shell companies and subsidiaries to try to get millions of dollars in government business after the company faced strong criticism for reckless conduct in Iraq, The New York Times reported Friday.

The newspaper said that it was unclear how many of the created companies got American contracts but that at least three of them obtained work with the U.S. military and the CIA.

Sen. Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, has asked the Justice Department to see whether Blackwater misled the government when using the subsidiaries to gain government contracts, according to the Times.

It said Levin's committee found that North Carolina-based Blackwater, which now is known as Xe Services, went to great lengths to find ways to get lucrative government work despite criminal charges and criticism stemming from a 2007 incident in which Blackwater guards killed 17 Iraqi civilians. A committee chart outlines the web of Blackwater subsidiaries.

Messages left late Friday with spokespeople for the Michigan Democrat and Xe were not immediately answered.

The 2007 incident and other reports of abuses by Blackwater employees in Iraq led to criminal investigations and congressional hearings, and resulted in the company losing a lucrative contract with the State Department to provide security in Iraq.

But recently the company was awarded a $100 million contract to provide security for the agency in Afghanistan, prompting criticism from some in Congress. CIA Director Leon Panetta said that the CIA had no choice but to hire the company because it underbid others by $26 million and that a CIA review concluded that the contractor had cleaned up its act.

Last year, Panetta canceled a contract with Xe that allowed the company's operatives to load missiles on Predator drones in Pakistan, and shifted the work to government personnel.

However, the Times quoted former Blackwater officials as saying that at least two Blackwater-affiliated companies, XPG and Greystone, obtained secret contracts from the CIA to provide security to agency operatives.

The newspaper said the network of subsidiaries, including several located in offshore tax havens, were uncovered as part of the Armed Services Committee's examination of government contracting and not an investigation solely into Blackwater. But Levin questioned why Blackwater would need to create so many companies with various names to seek out government business, according to the Times.

The report quoted unidentified government officials and former Blackwater employees as saying that the network of companies allowed Blackwater to obscure its involvement in government work from contracting officials and the public, and to ensure a low profile for its classified activities.

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Pay attention to Blackwater so no one thinks about ACORN.

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The real question is, how the fuck can the government award a contract to a company and not even know who they are dealing with? Who gives a shit about Blackwater....

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Didn't General Electric Corp have subsidiaries in Europe that that were doing business with Iran, despite the various embargoes, while the same time GE Corp had business with the USG?

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Most moderate sized businesses have multiple subsidiaries. I don't see why Blackwater would be any different. Securing government contracts and paying taxes are just shell games to big companies. Move stuff around and bend accounting rules to see what you can get away with within the letter of the law.

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Didn't General Electric Corp have subsidiaries in Europe that that were doing business with Iran, despite the various embargoes, while the same time GE Corp had business with the USG?

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So what.

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It's YAHOO. Fucking morons, tier 1.

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Pay attention to Blackwater so no one thinks about ACORN.

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That's a secret?

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Never dealt with the Defense Contract Accounting Ageny, have you?

Companies that do that get caught (eventually) and their invoices get denied.

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Didn't General Electric Corp have subsidiaries in Europe that that were doing business with Iran, despite the various embargoes, while the same time GE Corp had business with the USG?

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Yeah, and they are so good at their job that they're up to catching 2% of the companies that cheat. Or are you trying to claim that the DCAA is the only government agency in the world that is working at a 100% success rate?

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The real question is, how the fuck can the government award a contract to a company and not even know who they are dealing with? Who gives a shit about Blackwater....

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Are you saying its okay to willfully commit crimes because everyone else is?  Or that all Government contractors are crooked?

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The contracting officers most certainly knew

as sub contractors must be listed in the proposal, and they had business that needed Blackwater's special attention.  Its not illegal to call a company and ask "Do you partner with any small disadvantaged businesses on a regular basis?"



Kharn

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Gee, the left has gone off the deep end so far that now a company makes headlines if they do something legal.  When will the New York Times break the earth shattering report on the super secret company that has Senator Levin's port-a-potty contract?

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so very unethical business practices are a-ok, as long as it's doing something you approve?

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so very unethical business practices are a-ok, as long as it's doing something you approve?  

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so you'd rather somebody like PGS or Wackenhut stumble face first on a DoD contract like the ones BW got and get people killed like its going out of style?

some companies that are technically qualified to get such contracts would waste the time and money of everyone involved, plus possibly get people killed..



The people looking to fill contracts usually know better, and assist in getting the better company the contract. Sometimes you have to have your buddy "John" make a "shell" company on the side with no official ties to get the contract. More often than not, it's for the best.