Agility indicted by U.S. on fraud charges

Agility indicted by U.S. on fraud charges    Kuwait-based global logistics company Agility was indicted Monday for allegedly defrauding the U.S. government in its role as a military contractor, according to a report Tuesday in the Washington Post.
   The U.S. grand jury indictment charges Agility, formerly known as Public Warehousing Co., or PWC Logistics, with 'submitting inflated bills and false claims under contracts through which it has supplied $8.5 billion in food and other products to the American military in Iraq, Kuwait and Jordan over the past six years,' the report said.
   Agility has denied the charges.
   The company 'is confident that once these allegations are examined in court, they will be found to be without merit,” Agility said in a statement to the newspaper.
   Agility's business has grown substantially in the last decade thanks to expansion of its commercial and defense logistics divisions, particularly in relation to the United States' involvement in conflicts in the Middle East.
   The U.S. Defense Logistics Agency has issued a suspension notice to the company, meaning it cannot bid on other contracts until the legal proceedings are concluded. Agility's contract is due to expire in December 2010.
   'If convicted, the company will face fines and possible prohibition from bidding on other government contracts,' the report said.