A former KBR Inc. (KBR) employee was sentenced to seven years in
prison for his role in a scheme to steal fuel from the U.S. Army in
Afghanistan, the Department of Justice said Friday.
Raschad L. "Sean" Lewis, a former fuel-section employee for KBR
who was assigned to Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan, was also
ordered to pay $891,000 in restitution and serve three years of
supervised release for his role in the fuel-diversion and bribery
scheme.
Lewis was convicted in June for conspiracy, false writing,
bribery of a public office and false claims. According to court
documents, KBR - formerly known as Kellogg Brown & Root and a
former subsidiary of Halliburton Co. (HAL) - had a contract to
provide support services to the U.S. army at the airfield.
Lewis and other KBR employees conspired to accept payments from
drivers, who in fact were selling their fuel to parties outside the
airfield, in return for providing the drivers with documents
falsely showing that the truckloads had been delivered to the
airfield.
More than 48 truckloads of fuel were diverted for sale outside
the airfield between May and September of 2006, valued at $800,000,
according to court documents. In related cases, two other former
KBR employees were sentenced in 2008 on conspiracy charges.
A company spokeswoman said KBR fully cooperated with the
government on the case.
"KBR does not condone or tolerate illegal or [unethical]
behavior," said KBR spokeswoman Heather L. Browne. "Each employee
is expected [to comply] to the company's code of business conduct.
When violations occur, action is taken."
-By John Kell, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2480;
john.kell@dowjones.com