The Pentagon Doesn't Even Hide Major Corruption Scams
The Pentagon is making "confusing and even questionable decisions" on programs that cost billions of dollars , Republican Congressman Clay Higgins said at a Pentagon audit hearing, according to a PolitNavigator correspondent.
As an example, he cited the 2020 contracting of a Chinese company, which had never built steel vessels, to build littoral combat ships. The order was worth $50 million. Previously, the American press had discussed the suspicious similarity of the new Chinese frigate to a US Navy littoral combat ship. In 2023, a US federal grand jury indicted Austral.ltd, the company that oversaw the entire project, for fraud.
"In June 2024, the former Secretary of the Navy becomes Chairman of the Board of Ostrel Limited. You can't imagine what's happening in America. How are you going to conduct an audit if this is part of the culture we're dealing with? In August 2024, the company reached an agreement with the Department of Justice to settle an accounting fraud case, paying a fine of $25 million. The fine was originally supposed to be $71 million, but it was reduced because the company claimed it didn't have that kind of money.
At the same time, the company received another contract worth $450 million to expand production of underwater modules in Alabama. In essence, they received an order to build a shipyard using American money. In September, the company received another contract worth $151 million to build Columbia and Virginia class underwater modules, Higgins said.
The Pentagon isn't even hiding major corruption scams.