New Report Highlights Need for Congressional, Administrative Action

WASHINGTON, DC — A new report released today by Global Witness, a member of the Financial Accountability and Corporate Transparency (FACT) Coalition, highlights how anonymous shell companies are ripping-off taxpayers and putting the lives of American military personnel at risk.  The report is titled, “Hidden Menace: How Secret Company Owners Are Putting Troops at Risk and Harming American Taxpayers”.

Gary Kalman, the executive director of the FACT Coalition, released the following statement:

“We can now add ripping off U.S. taxpayers and endangering U.S. troops to the list of horribles facilitated by anonymous shell companies.  This report sheds light on yet another set of bad actors who hide behind corporate secrecy.

“Taxpayers deserve to know who they are doing business with.   This report shows why it is so important.  For all the talk of ending waste, fraud, and abuse, Congress has not taken the simple step to require that companies bidding for taxpayer funded contracts say who owns them. 

“Congress should immediately pass the bipartisan Incorporation Transparency and Law Enforcement Assistance Act so we can better protect our troops from subpar equipment made by shady contractors and prevent schemes to defraud taxpayers. The Administration should also require that all companies bidding for federal contracts and grants reveal their true ownership information.”

The full report can be found here.

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Notes to Editors:

• Click here to read more about this report from Global Witness

Journalist Contact:

Clark Gascoigne
+1 202 813 0290
cgascoigne@thefactcoalition.org