Fórum Defesa Brasil

Túlio escreveu:Excelentes notícias, tudo o que tenho dito - y sin fuentes - vem se confirmando, cancelamento de programas como o DDG e o F22 - este ainda tem salvação se sair o contrato Japonês - mas lembremos que a encomenda projetada para a USAF chegaria a quase 800 unidades, agora se darão por felizes se chegarem a 200 (1/4!!!). Estou agora no aguardo de novos cortes para o F-35, que começou com a expectativa de umas 3000 unidades e já sofreu buenas reduções (está em quantos mesmo?)...

É a crise chegando, depois dessa o Mr. Bush não elege nem síndico de edifício...

Battleaxe escreveu:As perspectivas na US Navy por exemplo, são as piores possíveis no que tange a manter seus meios. A coisa $$$$ tá preta por lá. E$tá faltando combu$tivel e $e o me$mo não aparecer, veremo$ algo inédito.

Por i$$o nunca $ube$timem o$ americano$ na concorrência do FX-2, por exemplo.

O papo do F35 a 75 milha$ ganha força ante o de$e$pero americano.

Ma$, vamo$ aguardar mai$ novidade$ até o fim do ano.

O império pode e$tar ruindo.

DCAA Auditors Were Suppressed on Audits of "Major Aerospace Company," Says GAO


(Source: Project On Government Oversight; issued July 23, 2008)


Defense Contract Audit Agency auditors "were pressured by supervisors to skew their reports on a major defense contractor's work, hiding wrongdoing and charges of overbilling," The Washington Post reported a half hour ago citing a GAO report.

DCAA "made an upfront agreement with a 'major aerospace company' to limit the scope of work and basis for an audit." The Post adds more details:

“When the contractor, who is not named in the report, objected to the draft findings of the DCAA audit, managers at the audit agency assigned a new supervisor to the case and threatened the senior auditor with personnel action if "he did not delete findings from the report and change the draft audit opinion to adequate," according to the GAO report.

“Supervisors at DCAA attempted to intimidate auditors, prevented them from speaking with GAO investigators and created a "generally abusive work environment," the report said.

“GAO said it launched the investigation on its own after receiving complaints on a hotline about 14 DCAA audits. It conducted more than 100 interviews of more than 50 people involved in the audits at two DCAA locations in California. The report details three of the audits the GAO looked into but does not name any of the contractors.”

This morning the Senate Appropriations Committee held a hearing on contracting fraud. The brakes put on DCAA auditors is a green light to anybody who wants to bilk the taxpayer. (ends)



Senators Lieberman and Collins Decry DCAA Improprieties


(Source: Project On Government Oversight; issued July 23, 2008)



Senators Joe Lieberman and Susan Collins have issued a press release on the GAO report substantiating allegations by Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) auditors that their superiors were changing their findings to fit the contractors they oversee.

From their release:

“GAO has substantiated serious whistleblower allegations that show that some DCAA supervisors were cutting corners and pressuring their subordinates to give more favorable audits to contractors than the auditors felt the contractors deserved,” Lieberman said. “This shows a blatant disregard for the safeguards that are supposed to be in place to ensure that contractors charge the government no more than a fair and reasonable price.”

Collins said: “Verifying the accuracy of the cost and accounting systems used by government contractors is essential to ensuring that taxpayer dollars are spent wisely. The audits performed by DCAA are a fundamental part of sound government contracting. As Chairman Lieberman and I suspected when we requested that GAO first conduct an investigation of DCAA’s audit practices in August 2006, this GAO investigation raises serious concerns about DCAA’s ability to effectively fulfill its critical oversight mission. Further work is needed to determine the extent of the problem and what corrective actions are necessary to put DCAA back on the right track. ” (ends)



Allegations That Certain Audits at Three Locations Did Not Meet Professional Standards Were Substantiated


(Source: US Government Accountability Office (GAO); dated July 22, 2008)



The Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) under the Department of Defense (DOD) Comptroller plays a critical role in contractor oversight by providing auditing, accounting, and financial advisory services in connection with DOD and other federal agency contracts and subcontracts. DCAA has elected to follow generally accepted government auditing standards (GAGAS). These standards provide guidelines to help government auditors maintain competence, integrity, objectivity, and independence in their work.

GAO investigated hotline complaints it received related to alleged failures to comply with GAGAS on 14 DCAA audits. Specifically, it was alleged that (1) working papers did not support reported opinions, (2) supervisors dropped findings and changed audit opinions without adequate evidence, and (3) sufficient work was not performed to support audit conclusions and opinions. GAO also investigated issues related to the quality of certain forward pricing reports.

GAO investigators interviewed over 50 individuals, reviewed the working papers and related documents for 14 audits issued from 2003 through 2007 by two DCAA field offices, and reviewed documentation on audit issues at a third DCAA office. GAO did not re-perform the audits to validate the completeness and accuracy of DCAA’s findings. DCAA did not agree with the “totality” of GAO’s findings, but it did acknowledge shortcomings with some audits and agreed to take corrective action.

GAO substantiated the allegations. Although DCAA policy states that its audits are performed according to GAGAS, GAO found numerous examples where DCAA failed to comply with GAGAS. For example, contractor officials and the DOD contracting community improperly influenced the audit scope, conclusions, and opinions of three audits—a serious independence issue.

At two DCAA locations, GAO found evidence that (1) working papers did not support reported opinions, (2) DCAA supervisors dropped findings and changed audit opinions without adequate evidence for their changes, and (3) sufficient audit work was not performed to support audit opinions and conclusions. GAO also substantiated allegations of inadequate supervision of certain audits at a third DCAA location.

Throughout GAO’s investigation, auditors at each of the three DCAA locations told us that the limited number of hours approved for their audits directly affected the sufficiency of audit testing. Moreover, during GAO’s investigation, DCAA managers took actions against staff at two locations, attempting to intimidate auditors, prevent them from speaking with investigators, and creating a generally abusive work environment.


Click here for the full report ((80 pages in PDF format) on the GAO website.
http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d08857.pdf

-ends-

Túlio escreveu:Excelentes notícias, tudo o que tenho dito - y sin fuentes - vem se confirmando, cancelamento de programas como o DDG e o F22 - este ainda tem salvação se sair o contrato Japonês - mas lembremos que a encomenda projetada para a USAF chegaria a quase 800 unidades, agora se darão por felizes se chegarem a 200 (1/4!!!). Estou agora no aguardo de novos cortes para o F-35, que começou com a expectativa de umas 3000 unidades e já sofreu buenas reduções (está em quantos mesmo?)...

É a crise chegando, depois dessa o Mr. Bush não elege nem síndico de edifício...

Túlio escreveu:Creio que todos concordamos que a kôza tá ficando BEM feia por lá e que podemos ser PARTE da solução, daí não duvido nem um pouco da charla do Padilha sobre F-35 e principalmente do que ele NÃO falou, ou seja, um pacotão DAQUELES, por um lado economizam e por outro ganham uns bilhõezitchos; a encrenca vai ser convencer o nosso governo a comprar de prateleira. Ademais, depois do que li no Defense Industry Daily, tenho reservas ainda maiores em relação ao Lightning II, dadas as declarações dos próprios ianques de sua desconfiança da capacidade do aludido caça contra Flanker, MiG-35 e eurocanards...

Túlio escreveu:Não adianta, Oziris, o pior cego é o que se recusa terminantente a ver o que lhe está diante do nariz. A bomba vai estourar a qualquer momento e vai ser BEM feio o negócio, o mundo inteiro vai feder a josta...

Entretanto, podemos postar miles de notícias e artigos a respeito, vai ser tudo no mesmo sentido, mesmo os mais conservadores admitem que a vaca está indo pro brejo...

Só que quem não quiser acreditar, que espere e veja. VAI VER!!!

Bolovo escreveu:O neo-conservador aqui tá com uma coca gelada em mãos, na laje (porque varanda é coisa de gringo), esperando sentado o fim do mundo. Mas como isso vai demorar, eu peguei uns filmes para assistir até lá hahae