WASHINGTON, June 15 (UPI) -- Allegations of squandering $8 billion in Iraq by the U.S.-based Halliburton oilfield service company swirled in Washington Tuesday, the Financial Times said.
At the center of the storm was Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., who was to testify before a House committee on government reform that Halliburton mismanaged funds for the contract that was never open to tender.
A Pentagon audit has already found wide-spread deficiencies in the way Halliburton tracks billions of dollars of government contracts in Iraq and Kuwait, leading to "significant" overcharges.
That report was backed by accounts from former employees who said that the company's civilian subcontractors charged $100 to launder a 15-pound bag of clothing and abandoned $85,000 trucks when a tire went flat.
Waxman said in a statement Monday the committee was neglecting its duty by not allowing the whistleblowers to testify.
In response, a spokesman for the committee said they were checking the whistleblowers' credibility. "We have never said 'no', just 'not yet,'" he said.
Halliburton was headed by U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney until his appointment to office.
