Eurest Support Services 5355933 193522117 2008-02-23T17:52:45Z 76.185.117.44 Unnecessary '''Eurest Support Services''' (ESS) is a subsidiary of the [[catering]] company, the [[Compass Group]]. ESS first came to wide public light after being embroiled in the multibillion-dollar United Nations procurement scandal. ESS used a broker company to get [[United Nations]] procurement contracts with the use of corruption of the U.N. official [[Alexander Yakovlev (UN procurement)]]. It was also investigated by the Congress of the United States House of Representatives [[United States House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform|Committee on Oversight and Government Reform]] for its role in contracting arrangements in providing dining services to the US Army in Iraq as a subcontractor to [[Halliburton]] subsidiary [[Kellogg, Brown and Root|KBR]]. ==U.N. Corruption== A multi-million dollar contract to provide food to U.N. peacekeepers was awarded to ESS, days after [[Andy Seiwert]], a senior executive at ESS, allegedly received confidential bid information. At the time U.N. officials estimated the total value of ESS food contracts with the United Nations at $237 million, with renewals and add-ons that could reach $351 million. Attached to the e-mail were commercially sensitive U.N. documents that no one outside of highly restricted circles within the U.N. was supposed to have access to; and that the contracts committee itself would not ponder for five more days. * The first document was a draft of the official recommendation by the UN procurement department that a $62 million contract for U.N. peacekeepers in Liberia be awarded to Eurest Support Services. * The second document was a detailed United Nations evaluation of the technical abilities of 12 different food supply firms to meet U.N. requirements for feeding separate UN peacekeeping missions. * The third document was a detailed list of the price bids, that three of the five firms had submitted for the UN contract. The document showed that ESS had bested its nearest rival, a food services firm known as [[Es-Ko]], by literally pennies per ration unit, and had also underbid its competitors in virtually every other service category. Such information is considered top-secret by the [[United Nations]], and is submitted in a sealed-bid process that U.N. officials have touted as foolproof. ESS's business development executive [[Andy Seiwert]] had a vital interest in it. Siewert was the ESS/Compass executive described by sources close to the U.N. as having the most frequent day-to-day contact with the scandal-plagued UN procurement department. That contact included frequent meetings with [[Alexander Yakovlev (UN procurement)]]. [[Alexander Yakovlev (UN procurement)]] pleaded guilty to charges of corruption, wire fraud and money-laundering. [[Vladimir Kuznetsov]] Head of the U.N. Committee for Administrative and Budgetary Issues was also arrested and indicted after taking nearly $1 million in bribes from the [[Compass Group]]. Competitors [[ES-KO]] and [[Supreme Food Services AG]] have initiated lawsuits claiming violation of the [[Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations]] (RICO) Act, the [[Sherman Antitrust Act]] and New York State's [[Donnelly Act]] regulating free trade. Compass settled the claims and said that the total legal, professional and related costs associated with investigation, litigation and settlement was below £40 million although they did not admit legal liability <ref>[http://www.compass-group.com/NR/rdonlyres/4B454A06-C99B-4FA5-B809-937F89344181/196/AnnouncementinrelationtoESSESKOandSupremeUNLitigat.pdf Compass ES-KO and Supreme settlement announcement]</ref>. Federal investigations are underway and the case has been referred to the [[Serious Fraud Office (UK)]]. ==Iraq Contracting== ESS was contracted by [[Kellogg, Brown and Root|KBR]], a subsidiary of [[Halliburton]] under the [[U.S. Army]] troop support contract called LOGCAP to provide dining and construction services in Iraq <ref>[http://oversight.house.gov/Documents/20070207112222-87567.pdf Waxman's statement]</ref>. [[Henry Waxman]], chairman of the House [[United States House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform|Committee on Oversight and Government Reform]] provided examples of how charges for security personnel employed by [[Blackwater USA]] compounded as various contractors put on their charges, adding to the final bill the U.S. Army and American taxpayers were expected to pay<ref>[http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/02/07/ap/business/mainD8N4OA4G0.shtml Army Confirms Security Contract in Iraq, After Many Denials, Army Confirms Private Security Contract in Iraq - CBS News<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>. It has been contended that the contract between ESS and Blackwater, through an intermediary called Regency Hotels, was known to Halliburton and therefore violated Halliburton's contract with the U.S. Army <ref>[http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/02/08/iraq.contractors/index.html Deadly jobs of Iraq contractors examined in Congress - CNN.com<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>. Four Blackwater employees were killed in an [[31 March 2004 Fallujah ambush|ambush in Falluja on March 31, 2004]] while protecting an ESS convoy on the way to a KBR location <ref>[http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/warriors/ frontline: private warriors | PBS<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>. ==External links== * [http://www.compass-group.com/CompassGroup/ Compass Group PLC - Official site] * [http://www.ess-global.com/ ESS website] ==Sources== * [http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,184495,00.html Compass Group’s bid rigging scheme] * [http://www.foxnews.com/projects/pdf/ES-KO_v._Compass.pdf Lawsuit from competitor ES-KO] * [http://www.foxnews.com/projects/pdf/supreme_lawsuit.pdf Lawsuit from competitor Supreme Foodservices AG] * [http://www.foxnews.com/projects/pdf/un_documents.pdf The stolen secret documents] ==References== <references/> [[Category:Corporate scandals]] [[Category:Corporate crime]] [[Category:Political corruption]] [[Category:Fraud]] [[Category:United Nations]]