U.S. firm turns blind eye to base issues
Investigators who uncovered wrongs in Iraq are fired
WASHINGTON — An American company that was paid nearly $700 million to secure an Iraqi base for F-16 fighter jets turned a blind eye to alcohol smuggling, theft, security violations, and allegations of sex trafficking — then fired investigators who uncovered wrongdoing, an Associated Press investigation has found.
Documents and interviews with two former internal investigators and a half-dozen former or current Sallyport Global staff describe schemes at Iraq’s Balad Air Base that were major contract violations at best and, if proven, illegal.
The fired investigators, Robert Cole and Kristie King, said they uncovered evidence that Sallyport employees were involved in human trafficking for prostitution. Staff on base routinely flew in smuggled alcohol in such high volumes that a plane once seesawed on the tarmac under the weight. Rogue militia stole enormous generators using flatbed trucks and a 60-foot crane, driving right past Sallyport security guards.
The trouble stretches to headquarters in Reston, Va., say the investigators and other ex-employees interviewed by AP. They say much of what they uncovered was not revealed to the U.S. government, which was footing the $686 million contracting bill, until early this year — after an auditor started asking questions.
The investigators were fired abruptly March 12 — just two months ago — and immediately flown out of Iraq. They say they had been looking into timesheet fraud allegations and were set to interview company managers, whom they considered suspects.
“I feel like they got us out so quickly because they feel like we knew too much,” King said in an interview. “When we finally got the idea that they were hiding all of the stuff from the U.S. government, it was mind-blowing.”
In a statement, Sallyport said it follows all contracting rules at the base, home to a squadron of F-16s that are indispensable to the operations of the U.S.-led coalition against the Islamic State group.
“Sallyport has a strong record of providing security and life support services in challenging war zones like Iraq and plays a major but unheralded role in the war against ISIS,” Chief Operating Officer Matt Stuckart wrote. “The company takes any suggestion of wrongdoing at Balad very seriously.”
In one allegation, informants told the investigators that “flight line” staff, who directed airplanes on the runways and handled cargo, were showing up drunk. At one point they passed around a bowl of gummy bears soaked in vodka.
Balad is controlled by the Iraqi government. Americans have been there off and on since 2003. Sallyport’s job was to keep Balad safe for the F-16s — and their Iraqi pilots. The contract required investigations into potential crimes and contract violations. That was the job of Cole and King. Among their findings:
• An armored Toyota SUV assigned to VIPs was stolen.
• On Nov. 15, 2016, just before 2 a.m., militia drove three flatbeds onto the base, one equipped with a crane. After lifting three enormous generators onto the trucks, the militia drove away unchallenged.
• As Cole and King sought to get to the bottom of the alcohol smuggling, they stumbled across a prostitution ring in Baghdad whose customers included Sallyport employees, informants said. They learned that four Ethiopians who had previously worked as prostitutes at the hotel had moved to Balad and were doing the same while moonlighting as Sallyport housekeepers.
Stuckart said the prostitution allegations were not substantiated.
“It is absurd to suggest that the company would shut down an inquiry into a matter of such gravity,” he said.