ANHAM, Pentagon contractor shipped through Iran for project, in possible violation of sanctions

According to Fox News: ANHAM USA,  Pentagon contractor that provides U.S. forces in Afghanistan with food and water shipped supplies to build an Afghan military base warehouse through Iran, in a move that may have violated U.S. sanctions, Fox News has learned.

Anham, which holds a multibillion-dollar Pentagon supply contract, used Iran’s Bandar Abbas port to land building materials and equipment that were later transported across Iran, according to internal corporate emails and trucking manifests reviewed by Fox News.

The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the story Wednesday, said Anham completed the warehouse at Bagram Air Field near Kabul in June 2012. The project put the company in position to win the estimated $8.1 billion Pentagon supply contract, the newspaper reported.

Anham told The Wall Street Journal in a statement that it disclosed to the Treasury Department that some items were transshipped through Iran and that it only became aware recently that one of its subcontractors was using the Iran route. Internal emails obtained by Fox News suggest otherwise.

Fadi Nahas, a senior vice president based at the Anham’s offices in Vienna, Va., was included on the email distribution list and approved the Iran routing.

Anham executives referred questions from The Wall Street Journal to the company’s legal counsel and outside press spokesman.

The Treasury Department told the newspaper that American citizens and Pentagon contractors from are barred transshipping goods through Iran under U.S. law.

“U.S. persons are prohibited from transshipping goods through Iran pursuant to the Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations,” Treasury spokesman John Sullivan said.

 http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/09/26/pentagon-contractor-shipped-through-iran-for-project/

IRON MILL Reports: IS ANHAM WASTING PENTAGON MONEY

 IRON MILL Reports: IS ANHAM WASTING PENTAGON MONEY
According to IronMill News service,  The mission of Iron Mill Interactive Media Inc. DBA Iron Mill News Serviceis the distribution of fresh and accurate news that is of critical importance to the people of America and the World.Iron Mill News Service seeks to recruit independent Journalists to widen our objectivity and knowledge base.Here’s a jaw-dropping example reported by Bloomberg.
anham, A U.S. contractor in Iraq overbilled the Pentagon by at least $4.4 million for spare parts and equipment, including $900 for an electronic control switch valued at $7.05, according to a new audit. Based on the questionable costs identified in a $300 million contract with Dubai-based Anham LLC, the U.S. should review all its contracts with the company in Iraq and Afghanistan, which total about $3.9 billion, said Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Stuart Bowen. “The audit found weak oversight in multiple areas that left the government vulnerable to improper overcharges,” Bowen wrote in the forward to his 30th quarterly report, released today. The contract in question was funded with a combination of money earmarked for Iraqi Security Forces and Army operations and maintenance funds. Among the “egregious examples of overbilling” by Anham were $4,500 for a circuit breaker valued at $183.30, $3,000 for a $94.47 circuit breaker and $80 for a small segment of drain pipe valued at $1.41.
Those mark-ups are absurd, but I wonder whether this example from the story is even worse.
In other cases, Anham used subcontractors to purchase items that could have been bought directly from the manufacturer at lower prices, the report said. When Anham was asked to buy a loudspeaker system to alert warehouse employees of any danger, it chose not to buy the system directly from the manufacturer at the retail price of $44,615, the report said. Instead, Anham sought bids from subcontractors and paid a company called Knowlogy $90,908. That price included $20,000 for installation, even though the system setup meant little more than wheeling it into place and plugging it in.
I think I made a mistake becoming a policy wonk. I could have a great career as a loudspeaker installer.Media Source: http://www.ironmill.com/2011/08/09/is-pentagon-waste-even-more-egregious-than-welfare-state-waste/