Normally, I'm not one to go around saying "I told you so," but (you knew a "but" was coming) I can't help but point you to Document 172 (Sentencing Memo) of Case 5:09-cr-00154-VEH -PWG, United States of America v. Eddie Presley, and Eurica Pressley, defendants filed on November 13 in the U.S. District Court for Northern Alabama, Northeastern Division.
This document has to do with the now infamous Eddie Pressley fraud case. For those unfamiliar with this the bottom line is that as an Army officer assigned to the Kuwait contracting office, Pressley was responsible for soliciting and reviewing bids for contracts for goods and services for Department of Defense ("DoD") necessary to support Operation Iraqi Freedom, arranging for contracts to be awarded to DoD contractors, and arranging for calls to be issued under blanket purchase agreements awarded to such contractors.
While he was an Army Major, Eddie Pressley arranged for Terry Hall, a defense contractor, to receive a blanket purchase agreement and related BPA calls for bottled water. The record also establishes that Eddie Pressley arranged for Hall to receive a fence contract and a modification to Hall's BPA which benefited Hall. Pressley was also connected to an even more legendary bribery case. That was an alleged band of conspirators uncovered by the Pentagon known as the Cockerham Group. John L. Cockerham, a former Army major, pleaded guilty in 2008 to soliciting millions of dollars in bribes and kickbacks from defense contractors and is serving a 17-year federal prison sentence. As of this past June 16 other soldiers and civilians have been convicted on a variety of charges.
The reason this is important is that if you very patiently wade through Document 172 you find this on page nine:
Pressley's role adjustment is fully supported by the record. As for the number of individuals involved, the evidence at trial showed that the criminal activity involved Eddie Pressley, Eurica Pressley, John Cockerham, James Momon, Christopher Murray, Terry Hall, Bill Baisey[emphasis added], Gopal Nair, Shaher Fawzi Audah, Finbar Charles, and Dorothy Ellis.
You also find this on page 11:
Pressley's conduct bears all the hallmarks of sophisticated laundering. The evidence at trial showed that Pressley arranged for Eurica Pressley to travel from the U.S. to Dubai and the Cayman Islands to set up bank accounts for the purpose of funneling over $2 million in bribes to himself; that he, working with Terry Hall and Bill Baisey, arranged for a shell company and a bank account to be created in Louisiana, through which over $800,000 in bribes was funneled to his wife and him;
Now why is this important? Bill Baisey is the CEO of Najlaa International Catering Services. This is the KBR subcontractor, which was the subject of the report I wrote, published by the Project on Government Oversight back in June. Among its offenses was essentially engaging in trafficking of workers, which was the subject of a recent congressional hearing at which I testified.
Yet despite its violations of various laws Najlaa continued to receive U.S. government contracts.
One has to ask, given that Baisey has been linked to one of the most high profile fraud cases of Operation Iraqi Freedom, now will the U.S. government at least stop giving him contracts? Oh, and perhaps one of those nice Justice Department lawyers might actually want to look into him, if it is not too much trouble. Pretty please, with a cherry on top.