Philip Bloom is an American businessman who pleaded guilty on April 18, 2006 to conspiracy, bribery and

money laundering Money laundering is the process of concealing the origin of money, obtained from illicit activities such as drug trafficking, corruption, embezzlement or gambling, by converting it into a legitimate source. It is a crime in many jurisdictions ...

in connection with a scheme to defraud the

Coalition Provisional Authority ) , capital = Baghdad , largest_city = capital , common_languages = ArabicKurdishEnglish (''de facto'') , government_type = Transitional government , legislature = Iraqi Governing Council , title_leader = Administrator , leader1 = Jay ...

– South Central Region (CPA-SC) during the occupation of Iraq.Contractor Pleads Guilty In Case Involving Bribery, Fraud And Money Laundering Scheme In Al-Hillah, Iraq
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United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United State ...

'', April 18, 2006 According to the ''

Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper i ...

'' Bloom used CPA funds to pay out over $2 million USD in bribes, in cash, real estate, designer cars, watches, and the services of prostitutes he brought to Bagdad. Bloom accepted at least $1 million in bribes and stole a further $600,000 in cash and goods from CPA funds. At the time the charges were laid this case was described as the first instance of many cases of fraud involving US officials. Bloom was accused of bribing

Lieutenant Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

Bruce D. Hopfengardner, Lieutenant Colonel Michael Brian Wheeler, Lieutenant Colonel Debra Harrison and a CPA Comptroller and convicted felon named Robert Stein Jr.. Bloom admitted paying Stein and the others more than $2 million in money and gifts in return for them using their official positions to award contracts to Bloom and his companies. Bloom, Stein, and the others also facilitated numerous wire transfers of money that were the proceeds of the fraudulently awarded bids and at least $2 million in stolen money from the CPA, in order to conceal the source and origin of the funds. All of the funds that paid for Bloom's contracts were from the Development Fund for Iraq—Iraqi oil money, administered on behalf of the Iraqi people, by the United States, during the American occupation. These funds were supposed to be under strict financial controls, overseen by the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

. A total of $8.6 million in rigged contracts was identified during the trial. Bloom's Romanian partners have denied all knowledge of his

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

activities.Philip Bloom arrested in Iraq reconstruction deals scandal
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Bucharest Daily News ''Bucharest Daily News'' was an English-language newspaper operating out of the Romanian capital city, Bucharest, and was frequently cited as a source by the sudden influx of Romanian news articles on Wikinews. It covered world and local news, pol ...

'', December 16, 2005 A summary of the Bloom/Stein conspiracy was published by the

Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction The Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR) (October 2004 - October 2013) was created as the successor to the Coalition Provisional Authority Office of Inspector General (CPA-IG). SIGIR was an independent government ...

as an appendix to is October 30, 2006 Quarterly Report to the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

.A Summary of the Bloom/ Stein Conspiracy
, ''Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction'', October 30, 2006 On February 16, 2007, Bloom was fined $3.6 million, ordered to pay a further $3.6 million in restitution and sentenced to 46 months in jail with probation following his sentence as part of a deal for cooperating with the investigation.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bloom, Philip Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Coalition Provisional Authority 21st-century American businesspeople American white-collar criminals American people convicted of fraud American businesspeople convicted of crimes