Feds: Defense firm put untrained guards in Iraq
Oct 31, 2012, 6:04 PM
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) – The federal government has joined a whistleblower’s lawsuit against a major defense contractor in Iraq.
The lawsuit claims Triple Canopy Inc. used hundreds of poorly trained security guards to protect the Al Asad Airbase. The suit also claims the Virginia-based company falsified documents to cover up its guards’ deficiencies in accurately shooting their AK-47 assault rifles.
Triple Canopy received a one-year, $10 million contract in 2009 to provide security at the base, Iraq’s second largest. The lawsuit was filed by a whistleblower under a law that allows the government to intervene if it believes the whistleblower’s claims.
The government joined the case last week. Triple Canopy declined comment Wednesday.
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