In a little noticed report last week, a US auditor concluded that $8.7 billion in reconstruction aid to Iraq is unaccounted for by the Department of Defense. With Iraq struggling financially as the US withdraws, the vanished money has become a symbol of the dysfunctional American-led rebuilding effort.
According to the report by the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, known as SIGIR, as much as 96 percent of the $9 billion provided by the Development Fund for Iraq (DFI) for reconstruction cannot be properly accounted for, noting that poor management and lack of regulations have led to the missing funds. For fully $2.6 billion of the missing funds, there is no paperwork at all.
Although SIGIR did conduct criminal investigations, which led to eight convictions for bribery, fraud, and money laundering, the report does not suggest that the bulk of the $8.7 billion was stolen.
via Iraq: $9 Billion in Reconstruction Funds Missing – ABC News.
