Agility in dispute with U.S. defense contractor

Agility in dispute with U.S. defense contractor    Kuwait-based logistics provider Agility said Monday that U.S. defense contractor DynCorp International had dropped its U.S. unit as a subcontractor for a project to provide logistics services to the U.S. Army in Afghanistan, according to news reports from the Middle East.
   Agility said in a statement posted on the Kuwait Stock Exchange that it was exploring legal options for breach of contract over DynCorp’s decision to cut Agility Defense and Government Services from the teaming arrangement.
   A U.S. grand jury in November indicted Agility for allegedly submitting inflated bills and false claims to the U.S. military under contracts in which it supplied $8.5 billion worth of food and other products to armed forces in Iraq, Kuwait and Jordan during the past six years. The indictment is technically against Public Warehousing Co, or PWC Logistics, as Agility was formerly known. It charges that PWC overcharged the military $62 million.
   U.S. military logistics contracts have played a large role in propelling Agility from a medium-size Middle East logistics provider to a top tier global logistics provider.
   The U.S. Defense Logistics Agency has suspended Agility from bidding on any other contracts with the U.S. government until legal proceedings are completed, but the firm is allowed to continue work on existing contracts.
   Agility says it plans to fight the fraud charges.
   DynCorp said in July that it won a $643.5 million contract to provide logistics services in Afghanistan for one year, but Agility has said four option years bring the total value of the contract to $5.9 billion. Agility was to receive 30 percent of the contract for airfield support.
   An Army official testified last week in Washington that DynCorp was permitted under its contract to terminate a partner in the case of criminal charges, Abu Dhabi paper The National reported.