As part of the federal contract requirements, internal investigators Robert Cole and Kristie King spent over a year looking into potential misconduct at the base. The two uncovered evidence that Sallyport employees were involved in sex trafficking, alcohol smuggling and numerous security breaches. According to AP, managers repeatedly shut down the investigations and failed to report their findings to the U.
Staff allegedly routinely flew in smuggled alcohol in such high volumes that a plane once seesawed on the runway under the weight. When a flight logistics employee, who had been pressured to sign off on fake manifests, aired his safety concerns to management, they were ignored. While on medical leave later, he was told his position at the base had been filled. Cole and King found the smuggling scheme was run from the al-Burhan Hotel, five minutes from Baghdad airport. There, they also uncovered a prostitution ring frequented by Sallyport employees.
Four Ethiopian women working as prostitutes, believed to have been trafficked, were later hired by Sallyport as housekeeping, and investigators say they found evidence of prostitution on the base. The prime smuggling suspect — a Sallyport employee — told King that a senior manager in Virginia, Roy Hernandez, had tipped him off about the investigations.
The thieves, who used flatbed trucks and a foot crane in the three-hour operation, drove past company security guards unchallenged. Most recently, King and Cole had opened an investigation into allegations of time-sheet fraud. However, in March this year they were summoned to an emergency meeting and found themselves surrounded by armed guards, forced to hand over their pistols, detained and then fired without explanation. And get our latest investigations on organized crime and corruption delivered straight to your inbox.
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