Halliburton to Return $27.4 Million to Government

By Jackie Spinner
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, February 4, 2004; Page E01

The Defense Department said yesterday that Halliburton Co. will reimburse the government $27.4 million for possible overcharges for food services in Iraq and Kuwait.

The amount includes $16 million that a Halliburton unit may have overcharged for meals it never served at Camp Arifjan in Kuwait, as well as $11.4 million in previously undisclosed overcharges at four other dining facilities in Kuwait and Iraq.

Lt. Col. Rose-Ann L. Lynch , a Pentagon spokeswoman, said Defense Department auditors also are reviewing billing at 53 other dining facilities that the Halliburton unit, KBR, operates through subcontractors in Iraq and Kuwait.

She said the possible overbillings, which took place over nine months last year, were discovered "during routine evaluation of contract costs submitted for payment."

Halliburton said on Monday that it would temporarily delay billing the government for food services until it can improve counting methods that may have led to the overcharging.

"KBR has a responsibility to clients and it is important to understand that this is not any sort of admission," Wendy Hall, a Halliburton spokeswoman, said yesterday in an e-mail. "It is an agreement to temporarily delay billing while KBR and the government jointly determine the best way to estimate how many meals to prepare."