Pentagon Purchases Needs Oversight

A small South Carolina parts supplier collected about $20.5 million over six years from the Pentagon for fraudulent shipping costs, including $998,798 for sending two 19-cent washers to a Texas base, U.S. officials said.

The company also billed and was paid $455,009 to ship three machine screws costing $1.31 each to Marines in Habbaniyah, Iraq, and $293,451 to ship an 89-cent split washer to Patrick Air Force Base in Cape Canaveral, Florida, Pentagon records show.

The owners of C&D Distributors in Lexington, South Carolina -- twin sisters -- exploited a flaw in an automated Defense Department purchasing system: bills for shipping to combat areas or U.S. bases that were labeled ``priority'' were usually paid automatically, said Cynthia Stroot, a Pentagon investigator.

Take a good hard look at the above problem. Hundreds of thousands of dollars were spend on washers that you could pick up at Home Depot for 19 cents each. Is absolutely NO ONE paying attention at the Pentagon purchasing department?

Normally, I have absolutely no problem when the Pentagon asks for additional funds. Defending this country costs a lot of money in equipment, men, and training. But for such a blatant abuse to go unnoticed for 6 years and $20 million lost, leads me to believe that the Pentagon needs to revamp their purchasing department immediately to correct such blatant abuse.

That's $20 million dollars folks. That's enough to fund a new (smaller), bridge, new technology, or simply as a tax break to the public. There were two sisters who ran this company, and one has since died, but the other one deserves to have absolutely everything stripped from her: House, cars, bank accounts, even clothing. Such blatant fraud against the American taxpayer deserves strict jail time (she faces 20 years on each count) and I sincerely think we won't see much in return of that lost $20 million.

I've been screaming about cutting the fat from government services and sadly, it appears that the Pentagon needs to be looked into.

Travis
travis@rightwinglunatic.com