Lee William Dubois, a former employee of an Iraq contractor based in Kuwait, was arrested and charged last Friday with making false statements to military investigators probing the theft of nearly $40 million in fuel from a U.S. Army base in Iraq.

Investigators allege that Dubois and his conspirators stole 10.5 million gallons of jet and diesel fuel valued at $39.6 million from Camp Liberty in Baghdad between June 27 and May 2008. The court affidavit states that Dubois used the names of legitimate contractors in Iraq to fraudulently obtain access cards that allowed him to tap into the base’s fuel tanks. The gas was hauled away in truck convoys, typically in 30,000 gallon increments, and then sold on the black market.

The case is being investigated by the Army’s Kuwait Fraud Task Force, which is charged with the investigation of corruption and major fraud cases connected to the global war on terrorism. Observers expect that additional charges may be filed against Dubois as well additional arrests. 

Since 2005, the Army Criminal Investigation Command has opened 168 investigations related to contract fraud in Kuwait, Iraq, and Afghanistan – most of which are still ongoing.