This article is pure speculation. Well not entirely, it is actually more like an “educated guess.” For years people have been scratching their heads and wondering about the huge non-competitive contracts awarded to Halliburton in connection with the US invasion and occupation of Iraq. The company was formerly headed by Vice president Dick Cheney, who now claims to “own no stock in the company.” His strong influence as VP in the Bush administration pushed through no bid contracts worth TRILLIONS of dollars to Halliburton and its subsidiaries. What was in it for Cheney, one might ask? Suppose that millions of dollars in cash or assets could be transferred to Cheney from a Halliburton subsidiary without any public record of ownership in the company or any public record of contract for services directly linked to Cheney?
Consider the “Hidden Treuhand” that is used in Europe to conceal corporate assets and activities. This form of entity operates like a Swiss bank account, only more powerfully and more actively. A bank account only holds assets in secret and allows for wealth to grow without attribution of its ownership to public eyes. A Hidden Treuhand operates actively as a corporate entity to acquire and sell assets and to distribute money or assets without publicly disclosing the identity of persons involved in the transactions. Cheney was CEO and Chairman of Halliburton during the time it has held European subsidiaries with Hidden Treuhand capabilities. Current Halliburton CEO’s, most selected by Cheney, are unquestionably aware of these tools for concealing assets and payments.
In a new book being published on Hidden Truehands, the author notes*:
The noncompetitive contract awarded Halliburton was orchestrated by Vice President Dick Cheney and backed by the Bush administration. This contract has afforded an estimated US$1.4 trillion to US$3 trillion of US taxpayer money to flow through the coffers of Halliburton, virtually unmonitored and fraught with accounting irregularities. The receiver of much of this US taxpayer money is Halliburton USA, its affiliates and subsidiaries. One of the subsidiaries, the Austrian subsidiary, is capable of dispersing any money sent to it to unknown persons, without a hint of transparency.
Another interesting twist on this subject is the relationship between the “War on Terror,” Halliburton and Cheney. International law enforcement authorities and anti-terrorist agencies have been investigating and battling Hidden Treuhand entities because of their obvious capabilities to finance terrorist organizations and operations from funds generated in the free global capital markets. Assets sent to the Hidden Treuhand entity could be divested, invested or traded with any country or entity without regard to international restrictions on funding of terrorist organizations. The proceeds of such transactions could then be transferred anonymously to entities that directly support known terrorist organizations or activities.
Halliburton, a company receiving BILLIONS of dollars from US taxpayers to support the “War on Terror,” is engaged in business activities using tools and entities that are designed to avoid transparency and are unique devices that facilitate terrorist financing and other potentially illegal activities.
The strong support from the Bush administration for contract awards to Halliburton, the millions of dollars worth of documented cases of fraud and overcharging by Halliburton under those contracts and the seeming recalcitrance by the Bush administration to do any effective auditing and oversight enforcement against Halliburton and its subsidiaries certainly seems to fall outside the reasonable range of “coincidence.”
Whether Dick Cheney is receiving rewards or kickbacks from his old firm and from his former protégés is unknown and unproven at this time. Cheney and the White House have proven adept at concealing information, untruthfulness in information that is disclosed and destruction of potentially material evidence relating to investigations of inappropriate conduct. However, payments to Cheney based upon both loyalty and assistance to Halliburton in its extremely fortunate experience in gaining lucrative government contracts would certainly not be illogical or unreasonable speculation.
[Shelley Stark is the author of a forthcoming book, "The Hidden Treuhand: How Europe Offers US Corporations and Individuals an Opportunity to Hide Assets, Identity, and Income."]
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