Michel Jamil, U.S. Army Fuel Theft, Virginia 2009

Michel Jamil, 60, of Annandale, Va., was sentenced to 40 months in prison for his participation in a scheme to steal approximately 10 million gallons of fuel from the U.S. Army in Iraq.

Jamil pleaded guilty on Aug. 11, 2009, to a one-count information charging him with conspiracy to steal government property. He admitted to participating in the scheme with two of his co-conspirators.

According to court documents, Jamil and his co-conspirators created a false memorandum for record (MFR) authorizing individuals to draw fuel from the Victory Bulk Fuel Point (VBFP) in Camp Liberty, Iraq. The VBFP supplies aviation and diesel fuel to both military units and U.S. government contractors operating in and around the Victory Base Complex.

Jamil admitted to escorting trucks to retrieve fuel from the VBFP using a false MFR on approximately 10 to 15 occasions. As a result of the scheme, Jamil received between $75,000 and $87,500 in personal profits.

In related cases, Robert Jeffery was convicted on Aug. 11, 2009, of conspiracy and theft of government property for his role in the fuel theft. He was sentenced to four years in prison on Dec. 11, 2009. Robert Young pleaded guilty on July 24, 2009, and was sentenced to 97 months in prison on Nov. 6, 2009. Lee William Dubois pleaded guilty on Oct. 7, 2008, and was sentenced to three years in prison on Aug. 25, 2009.

The case was prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Steve Linick, Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section, and Fraud Section Trial Attorneys Andrew Gentin and Brigham Cannon. The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, the FBI, and members of the National Procurement Fraud Task Force and the International Contract Corruption Task Force (ICCTF).

Jamil’s sentencing marks the latest development in the ongoing investigation into the theft of U.S. government property in Iraq. The National Procurement Fraud Task Force, created in October 2006, was designed to promote the early detection, identification, prevention and prosecution of procurement fraud associated with the increase in government contracting activity for national security and other government programs.

The ICCTF is a joint law enforcement agency task force that seeks to detect, investigate and dismantle corruption and contract fraud resulting from U.S. Overseas Contingency Operations, including in Afghanistan, Iraq and Kuwait.

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