Contractor serving US troops indicted

The head of the company that feeds U.S. troops in Afghanistan has been charged in federal court with violating sanctions against trade with Iran, plus other offenses.

The federal indictment charges Abul Huda Farouki, 75, a Jordanian-American and wealthy philanthropist from Virginia with longstanding ties to Bill and Hillary Clinton, with conspiracy to commit money laundering, violating sanctions against Iran and fraud. The charges are in connection with more than $8 billion in contracts held by his company, Anham FZCO, to provide food and other logistical support to U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

The charges involving Anham make a series of legal cases against the three major food-service companies serving U.S. troops in Afghanistan since 2005.

Also charged in the case were Farouki’s brother, Mazen Farouki, 73, the owner of a closely associated company, and Salah Marouf, 71, who owned a company that did business with the Farouki brothers’ companies. Both are also U.S. citizens.

Farouki’s lawyer, Adam Hoffinger, issued a statement disputing the criminal charges, saying they were “at most a regulatory infraction, and one which Farouki and his company, Anham, voluntarily disclosed to the government long ago.”

Hoffinger’s statement went on to say that Anham had saved the U.S. government $1.4 billion with its current food-services contract.

“It replaced an earlier contract that the United States government had with another company that pleaded guilty to fraud against the United States, including overbilling,” he said.