‘PWC Agility is a Fugitive from US justice in Overbilling Case’
Bloomberg – Agility, the Middle East’s largest storage and logistics company, is a “fugitive from American justice” that is trying to evade trial on charges of overbilling on military supplies, U.S. prosecutors said. Agility, formerly known as Public Warehousing Co., was indicted in November on allegations it overcharged the U.S. government on a multibillion dollar contract to supply food for troops in Kuwait and Iraq.
The Kuwait-based company said April 28 it was negotiating with the U.S. Justice Department on a possible settlement of the case.
Prosecutors said in a filing today in Atlanta federal court that Agility has “retreated to the safe haven of Kuwait” and contends it isn’t subject to U.S. laws or courts. They urged the judge not to even consider Agility’s motion to nullify the indictment on the grounds that it wasn’t properly served.
Agility “boasts repeatedly in the media that it wishes to vindicate its reputation in this court by fully litigating this case, yet it remains a fugitive, trying to litigate its claims in the court of public opinion, while attempting to evade this court of law,” prosecutors wrote.
Agility adopted a company procedure that only one person could accept service of the indictment and that person was located outside the U.S., the government said in Monday’s filing.
Harry Frazier, a spokesman for the company, said it welcomes the court’s review and an eventual ruling on the matter.
“The question currently before the federal court in Atlanta is whether the Justice Department complied with U.S. law,” Frazier said in an e-mailed statement. “The Department’s filing today substitutes rhetoric for legal analysis and provides no justification for its decision to ignore longstanding U.S. law on proper service of process.”
Patrick Crosby, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Atlanta, declined to comment.
David Beasley
dbeasley4@yahoo.com.
