Agility Hit By Fraud Indictment

The lawsuit alleges that since 2003, PWC, The Sultan Center Food Products Company (TSC) and Tarek Abbul Aziz Sultan Al-Essa, Agility’s CEO, have made false claims for payment under PWC’s multi-billion contracts with the U.S. Defense Logistics Agency to supply food for the U.S. military in Kuwait, Iraq and Jordan.
The complaint alleges that Agility knowingly overcharged the U.S. for fresh fruits and vegetables that PWC purchased through TSC. The complaint also alleges that PWC failed to disclose and pass through rebates and discounts it obtained from its U.S.-based suppliers.
TSC is a retail chain founded by Sultan Al Essa’s uncle, Jamil Abdul Aziz. He and four other Sultan family members are stockholders in TSC that has shares in PWC/Agility.
The case was initially filed by whistleblower Kamal Mustafa Al-Sultan, a cousin of Sultan Al-Essa and owner of a Kuwaiti company Kamal M. Sultan Co. that had originally partnered with PWC in order to obtain U.S. government contracts.
In 2003, PWC won a contract to become the prime food vendor to U.S. forces in Iraq and Kuwait. As a result PWC’s business grew from $77 million in 2002 to $3.69 billion in 2006. However, reports say PWC won the contract without Kamal, its original partner.
Agility acknowledges the lawsuit was instigated by Kamal, “who has a long history of strong animosity towards PWC, its officers and its employees.” The company says it is “surprised and disappointed that the government has decided to intervene.”
In July 2009 Agility announced it had been awarded U.S. army contracts worth over $6.0 billion with DynCorp International and CH2M Hill for logistics support in Afghanistan. "The task order value is $643.5 million for the one-year base period. The award also includes four one year option periods with a total evaluated value of $5.874 billion," the company said in a statement.