Pentagon Hit for Lax Oversight of $4.2 Billion Afghan Contract

U.S. Defense Department personnel overseeing a $4.2 billion food supply contract, one of the largest in Afghanistan, failed to prevent overpayments and potentially incorrect charges, according to the Pentagon inspector general.

Supreme Foodservice AG of Ziegelbrucke, Switzerland may have been overpaid $124.3 million for transportation and corrugated packing boxes, according to the report released late yesterday. Pentagon personnel also had no assurance that billings for another $103 million in boxes was accurate or “even chargeable to the contract,” it said.