Goverment Probes Contractor Over Payments

Army criminal investigators are examining whether Combat Support Associates, a defense contractor that has earned more than $2 billion so far supporting U.S. troops in Iraq, overcharged the government. Combat Support Associates, based in Orange, Calif., performs vehicle maintenance, computer repairs and security work at Camp Doha, Camp Arifjan and other Army sites in Kuwait. Federal agents searched the company's offices in Kuwait in August. The investigation is among 168 by the Army Criminal Investigation Command related to contract fraud in Iraq, Kuwait and Afghanistan since 2005. The Army said 95 of those cases are pending. In some cases, investigations were closed because there was too little evidence to support charges or because a company was absolved. Other cases have resulted in criminal charges.