DND informed HP Work Confidential--HP, not Entitled to Information--National Security Reasons--Brilliant!
*** Here a $100 million -- there a $100 million . . . . Soon you're talking real money! ***
How much other waste and fraud has been going on with the federal Liberal government over a ten year stretch? The problem is that it didn't happen overnight and seems to be systemic, not just isolated to the sponsorship program.
Taxpayers are hammered on all sides with increased taxation and user fees while the government seems to have been run on auto pilot while some were free with the public's hard earned money. This, at a time when healthcare was cut and the Sea Kings were falling from the skies.
*** There's no way all this can be investigated in a short time span. ***
It should have been picked up and acted upon years ago, but nobody seems to know anything about the public's missing money including Cabinet Ministers -- especially Cabinet Ministers -- and of course, Paul Martin.
*** They're going to have to rehire retired RCMP investigators to help out because there aren't enough experienced officers to handle all the cases -- unless finishing an investigation 15 years after the fact is what is called "timely". ***
Note: Compaq/HP acted, at the Liberal government's behest, as an umbrella organization for the government to oversee six subcontractors
*** The contract to provide software, hardware and computer services to DND was originally awarded to Compaq Canada in 1991. It was transferred to HP after its acquisition of Compaq.
HP said it was kept out of the loop as it hired subcontractors at the request of DND.
"DND's instructions to HP were to process invoices for these suppliers, although the nature of the work being performed was, in many instances, never disclosed by DND. Despite repeated HP requests for particulars of the work to be provided, DND informed HP that the work was confidential and that, in the interest of national security, HP was not entitled to this information," Mr. Ireland said. ***
[. . . . ] In a letter to HP dated two days ago, David Marshall, deputy minister of Public Works, wrote that the government had paid the company for work from six subcontractors, which did not have a contractual relationship with HP. Lawyers for one of the subcontractors told auditors as part of an investigation, that it did not offer any services to the government, the letter said.
"HP has indicated that invoices submitted to it by the six third parties resulted specifically in HP billings to DND of $159,449,569," Mr. Marshall wrote.
[. . . . ] "HP's investigation has, thus far, revealed the potential that an employee of DND and others unknown to HP engaged in fraudulent activity" [. . . ]
A team of internal auditors at Public Works first identified problems with the contract, including deficiencies related to cost accounting, time recording and contract administration. A source said yesterday that the fired employee "exceeded his authority in terms of contracting and in terms of expenditures."
The information was passed on to DND in April of 2003, which hired Pricewaterhouse-Coopers to conduct a forensic audit, which is continuing. The RCMP was also called in to investigate.
[. . . . ] "It is unbelievable when we look at some of the facts and the details here, it goes through every single department in the government. Hundreds of millions of dollars out of DND went missing in action when the Prime Minister was in fact the finance minister. We have no idea whether this DND computer scandal is the end or if it is just the beginning. I think we have uncovered only the tip of the iceberg," she said.
The contract to provide software, hardware and computer services to DND was originally awarded to Compaq Canada in 1991. It was transferred to HP after its acquisition of Compaq.
HP said it was kept out of the loop as it hired subcontractors at the request of DND.
"DND's instructions to HP were to process invoices for these suppliers, although the nature of the work being performed was, in many instances, never disclosed by DND. Despite repeated HP requests for particulars of the work to be provided, DND informed HP that the work was confidential and that, in the interest of national security, HP was not entitled to this information," Mr. Ireland said.
A federal official rejected the notion that the problems were located solely within the government.
"It could not have been done solely by one person at National Defence," the source said.
