Culture of Corruption: American to Plead Guilty to Graft for Work in Iraq

NYT

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A former U.S. occupation official in Iraq has agreed to plead guilty to conspiring to steal more than $2 million in reconstruction money and award contracts to a businessman in exchange for more than $1 million in cash and goods.

Robert J. Stein Jr., 50, of Fayetteville, N.C., is scheduled to enter his guilty plea in U.S. District Court in Washington on Thursday. Stein, a former contracting official for the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq, acknowledged his role in the conspiracy in a signed statement that has been filed with the court.

The businessman, Philip H. Bloom, also faces federal conspiracy and money laundering. Bloom is not named in Stein's statement, but has been identified elsewhere by prosecutors and is federal custody in Washington. Five U.S. Army Reserve officers also have been implicated in the theft and kickback scheme, according to court papers.