Hawaii Soldier Charged With Stealing $400K In Afghanistan

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29625942/

Prosecutors Say Capt. Brought Cash Back In Duffle Bag

KITV-TV
updated 7:48 p.m. CT, Wed., March. 11, 2009

HONOLULU - A former dispersing officer for Schofield Barracks units in Afghanistan pleaded not guilty to stealing $400,000 from the government while on deployment in a finance battalion.

Former Army Capt. David Silivano Gilliam, 39, was arrested in South Carolina for theft of government funds and illegally concealing money to bring it out of the country, according to court documents.

In 2004 and 2005, Gilliam was a disbursing officer with the 125th Finance Battalion from Schofield Barracks. He was deployed to the Kandahar Air Base in Afghanistan.

In both Afghanistan and Iraq, American cash is a big part of the war effort, paying civilians for work and even for losses to combat.

[Squatch]

1. What a dumb asshole.

The IRS got suspicious after he converted $254,000 into a First Hawaiian Bank cashiers check.

[Mari333]

2. paying civilians off is more like it

thats your tax dollars , folks. no one mentions the waste in either of these occupations when talking about the bankrupt economy.

[dkf]

3. I'm amazed we are handing out cash like that in Afghanistan too.

For all the $ we spend it sure seems pretty fruitless.

[asteroid2003QQ47]

4. $400K likely the tip of the iceberg; petty cash available to underlings. n/t

[Historic NY]

5. Another one, no wonder the Pentagon can't account for trillions.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/01/29/eveningnews/main325985.shtml

"According to some estimates we cannot track $2.3 trillion in transactions," Rumsfeld admitted.

$2.3 trillion — that's $8,000 for every man, woman and child in America. To understand how the Pentagon can lose track of trillions, consider the case of one military accountant who tried to find out what happened to a mere $300 million.

"We know it's gone. But we don't know what they spent it on," said Jim Minnery, Defense Finance and Accounting Service.

"They have to cover it up," he said. "That's where the corruption comes in. They have to cover up the fact that they can't do the job."

[AnnieBW]

6. To REALLY steal the government's money

This guy needs to get a job at KBR or Halliburton.