Two charged in Iraq contracts

One defendant in kickback case had fraud record

November 18, 2005|Associated Press

WASHINGTON -- US occupation officials gave a man with a federal fraud conviction control of millions of dollars for Iraqi reconstruction. Now the man is charged with accepting kickbacks to steer contracts to a businessman.

Robert J. Stein Jr., 50, of Fayetteville, N.C., used some of the kickback money to make a restitution payment for his conviction, and his wife used some to pay taxes, a federal affidavit said.

Stein faces conspiracy, money laundering, wire fraud, and other charges stemming from his alleged role in helping Philip H. Bloom, a US citizen who has lived in Romania get contracts in Iraq of more than $13 million, authorities said yesterday.

Prosecutors say Bloom, 65, paid kickbacks of more than $630,000 to Stein and others. Bloom has been charged with conspiracy and money laundering.

Stein, who worked for the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq, and his wife bought real estate, cars, jewelry, and home improvements with the money, according to federal affidavits.

He and other Coalition Provisional Authority officials allegedly helped rig bids for Bloom and companies he controlled for contracts in Al-Hillah and Karbala.

Bloom was arrested Sunday in New Jersey, while Stein was arrested Monday in Fayetteville, authorities said.

Robert A. Mintz, Bloom's lawyer, had no comment. Stein was represented by a federal public defender on Tuesday in US District Court in Fayetteville. Elizabeth Luck, a spokeswoman for the public defender's office, declined to comment on Stein's case.Court records show he was convicted in 1996 for defrauding a financial institution.