Judge rules Iraq qui tam lawsuit can proceed

By Erik Ricasa

Published on July 22, 2005

Robert Isakson and William Baldwin, former employees of Custer Battles LLC, allege that the firm charged the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq for work, employees, and equipment that never existed.

Isakson and Baldwin filed suit under federal law that allows whistleblowers up to 30 percent of damages recovered when they alert authorities about fraud against the government.

The Pentagon is now investigating Custer Battles for allegedly bilking the United States out of millions of dollars in the months following the invasion of Iraq. In the fall of 2004, Custer Battles and 15 of its subsidiaries were prohibited by the military from obtaining government contracts during the criminal investigation.

Custer Battles says that even if the charges were true, the Coalition Provisional Authority would have been defrauded, not the U.S. government.

Comment on this article →