Recruiting fraud, kickback scandal rocks Army

Federal investigators allege more than 800 U.S. soldiers participated in an illegal recruiting kickback scheme during the peak of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

According to USA Today, fraudulent payments by the National Guard exceeded tens of millions of dollars, with one soldier reportedly pocketing $275,000 for recruitment efforts. At least four others illegally received more than $100,000 apiece, according to documents obtained by USA Today.

In a U.S. Senate hearing yesterday led by Missouri Democrat Claire McCaskill, investigators said the fraudulent program cost taxpayers $50 million to $100 million. Involving National Guard members, retirees and civilians, the Recruiting Assistance Program had virtually no safeguards or controls in the efforts to recruit friends and family, according to testimony by Army investigators to the Senate Subcommittee on Financial & Contracting Oversight, which McCaskill chairs.

“What we’re seeing here today is one of the largest criminal investigations in the history of the Army, both by the sheer scale and scope of the fraud,” said McCaskill, who was interviewed for the USA Today story, in a news release. “We cannot allow this program to become a stain on the thousands of recruiters and Guard members who serve honorably.”

McCaskill said she was committed to holding the criminals accountable and restoring integrity and accountability in the Army’s recruiting process.

According to USA Today, an Army audit found that 1,200 recruiters had received payments that were potentially fraudulent, and another 2,000 recruiting assistants had received questionable payments.

More than 200 officers remain under investigation and, as of January, there were 559 criminal investigations involving 1,219 people, McCaskill’s release said.

In all, USA Today said the Guard paid more than $300 million for more than 130,000 enlistments – and bonus payments went to 106,364. The Army’s Criminal Investigative Command estimates it will take until 2016 to complete the investigation.

Read more from USA Today.[[In-content Ad]]