Agility, a logistics company based in Kuwait, is claiming US$225 million (Dh826.4m) in unpaid fees and damages from the US government over an alleged breach of its contract to supply foodstuffs to the US military in Kuwait and Iraq.
The company yesterday lodged a document with the Dubai Stock Exchange claiming US government officials employed by the US Defence Logistics Agency (DLA), and the US Department of Justice had, "conspired and acted in concert to intentionally deprive Agility of its rights under (its) second prime vendor contract."
The two-page Agility document, signed by Tarek Sultan, the company's chairman and managing director, said the claim had been filed with the US Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals, an independent forum founded under congressional charter, "to hear and decide post-award contract disputes between government contractors and the department of defence."
The contract appeals board yesterday confirmed it had received the appeal on April 16.
Agility has been in legal dispute with the US government since 2009 when US prosecutors filed a civil suit accusing Agility of defrauding the government by allegedly overcharging it more than $60m in its $8.5 billion food contract. Agility was accused of falsely inflating prices for perishable goods and other local markets items.
It is also alleged to have overcharged the government by failing to disclose discounts it received.
The indictment meant it was stripped of its US contracts.
In the current claim, Agility said the DLA was obligated under the contract to provide objective evaluations that might have led to higher payments. The department of justice, however, had "interfered and pressured" the DLA to downgrade the supplier's performance, thus "breaching the contract's express and implied terms and violating regulatory duties".
The $225m claimed comprises the amount owed in performance-based distribution fees plus interest, Agility said.
Officials at the DLA and the Department of Justice could not be reached for comment.
Agility's shares were up 4.9 per cent on the news, to 425 Kuwaiti fils.
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