WASHINGTON, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- A U.S. Army reserve officer was arrested Wednesday on charges of bribery, money laundering and theft and weapons while working in Iraq on reconstruction, the Justice Department said.
Lt. Col Michael Brian Wheeler, 47, of Amherst Junction, Wisc., was the third man arrested for a reconstruction bid-rigging scheme that came to light during a special inspector general investigation.
Wheeler was a civil affairs officer assigned to the Coalition Provisional Authority office in Hillah, Iraq, present day Babylon. He was responsible for developing and ordering contracts for reconstruction projects in south central Iraq.
An affidavit filed in U.S. District Court alleges Wheeler and others accepted money and gifts in exchange for contract awards. The affidavit also alleges that CPA officials, including Wheeler, stole CPA funds and smuggled hundreds of thousands of dollars into the United States on military planes. Wheeler allegedly stole $100,000.
Wheeler also stole numerous pistols, 20 semi-automatic machines guns and four grenade launchers that were purchased with CPA funds. Wheeler and his co-conspirators also used CPA funds to purchase dozens of weapons and military hardware in North Carolina for their own personal use, the document alleges.
Two other men were arrested in November on related charges. They are former CPA comptroller Robert J. Stein Jr., of Fayetteville, N.C., and contractor Philip H. Bloom, a U.S. citizen living in both Romania and Iraq.
According to the affidavit, Wheeler and three co-conspirators drew up fake bids to "compete" against Bloom's bids, allowing them to award him contracts as the "lowest bidder." Bloom won $3.5 million in contracts and was often paid in advance or for defective work by Wheeler and his co-conspirators, according to the document.
Congress appropriated approximately $20 billion for Iraq reconstruction projects in 2003.
