Maersk Line Ltd., a US-based subsidiary of A.P. Moller –
Maersk Group, has paid the United States government $8.7 million to settle a
civil settlement regarding Maersk’s failure to fully comply with terms of a
contract with the United States Transportation Command, the US Attorney for the
Southern District of Illinois, said Nov. 5.
Under the contract, the Department of Defense used Maersk
services to ship cargo from the United States to military outposts in
Afghanistan. Maersk moved cargo by sea to a designated port, then by trucks
over land, often travelling in remote areas where enemy combatants and criminal
entities were active in delivering shipments.
However, the Transportation Command found that some claims
submitted by Maersk contained suspicious signatures. Further investigation
revealed that signatures purporting to verify receipt of shipments in
Afghanistan were forged. A review uncovered 277 instances in which such claims
were falsely made.
The transport command is based in St. Clair County, Illinois,
which is why the case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney for the
Southern District of Illinois.
“I would note that to its credit, Maersk was cooperative in
the investigation,” Stephen R. Wigginton, the US Attorney for the Southern
District of Illinois, said. “Aside from these containers, Maersk has
successfully delivered thousands of shipments during the war effort.”
The matter was investigated by the United States Army
Criminal Investigation Command, Defense Criminal Investigative Service, Naval
Criminal Investigative Service, Air Force Office of Special Investigations and
the Office of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction.
“Maersk’s overall conduct reflects a stronger performance
and greater diligence than the relatively small amount of non-compliant warzone
shipments would suggest, but ... even a small amount of overall fraud becomes a
huge waste of tax dollars,” Wigginton said.
