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October 11, 2008 4:37:32 AM CDT

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Pentagon Spent $1M on 2 Washers

Posted Aug 16, 07 2:34 PM CDT in US 

(Newser) – Twin sisters at a parts supplier scammed the Pentagon out of $20.5 million in fraudulent  shipping costs, including $998,798 they charged to ship two 19-cent washers and half a mil to ship three machine screws to Iraq. The Pentagon took six years to catch on to the sisters' tricks: Apparently bills marked "priority" were paid automatically.

The South Carolina-based contractors pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering, after being barred from government contracts in December. The remaining sister—one has already died—has been fined $750,000 and will face a maximum of 20 years in prison.

Source Bloomberg

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Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, gestures during a news conference at the Pentagon in this April 26, 2007 file photo. A spokesperson for the Pentagon Defense Logistics Agency said...   (Associated Press)
Twin sisters who ran a small South Carolina parts supplier collected about $20.5 million over six years from the Pentagon for fraudulent shipping costs, including $998,798 for sending two 19-cent washers...   (Public Domain DoD photo by Master Sgt. Ken Hammond, U.S. Air Force)
In the six years of fraud, the Pentagon failed to notice a $998,798 bill for shipping two 19-cent washers domestically, as well as the $455,009 the government paid to ship three $1.31 machine screws.   (shutterstock.com)
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