Blackwater Billed Government for Prostitute, Ex-Employees Say

Two former employees of Blackwater Worldwide, which became the largest of the State Department's private security contractors during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, are accusing the company of systematically defrauding the government to pay for such things as a prostitute's services, alcohol and spa trips, the Washington Post reports. Brad Davis, a former Marine, was a Blackwater security guard in Iraq, and his wife, Melan, worked in the company's billing department in Louisiana.

In the wake of 9/11, Blackwater received billions from the government to protect American forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. The company became a major source of anti-American sentiment in Iraq because of deadly shootings involving its guards, and was finally banned from the country after a 2007 incident in which witnesses said Blackwater guards fired unprovoked into a busy intersection and killed 17 Iraqis. A spokesman for the company, which has changed its name to Xe Services LLC, could not be reached for comment.

The Davises, whose accusations against Blackwater appear in a false-claims lawsuit, say that the company routinely double-billed the government and lied about where the money was really going. Blackwater allegedly kept a Filipino prostitute on its payroll for "use" by male employees in Kabul, Afghanistan -- an expense that was reported under "Moral Welfare Recreation." Melan Davis said she questioned how the company could bill the government for employee travel without documentation, and alleged that she and two other employees created false invoices so their bosses could overcharge the government.

Melan Davis has accused the company of terminating her in 2008 because she questioned the practices, and her husband resigned shortly afterward.