Agility to pay $600m to settle fraud charges

Kuwait: Kuwait's logistics firm Agility is to pay the US government $600 million (Dh2.3 billion) to settle fraud charges, an Arabic-language daily reported yesterday, citing unnamed sources.

Agility and the US government reached a preliminary agreement and the sum would be paid over three years, Kuwait's Al Jarida newspaper said.

The Kuwaiti firm, formerly known as Public Warehousing Co KSC, is in talks to resolve an indictment accusing it of overcharging the US Army on supply contracts in Iraq, Kuwait and Jordan.

The company has delayed the release of its financial results until tomorrow and requested a trading halt on its shares, pending clarity on talks.

Al Jarida said the settlement will mean the return of US government business to Agility, but it was not clear yet if that would be in full or in part.

Settlement

It said the settlement could be announced "in a day or two."

"It [the settlement]... could include some slight changes, especially regarding the return of all contracts or the majority of them," the paper said.

Agility was not immediately available to comment.

Kuwait has become a major logistics base for US forces since the 2003 American invasion of Iraq.

Agility said on Tuesday it will postpone the release of its 2009 financial results until April 11 as it tried to reach a settlement with the US government on a fraud case.

Agility is publicly listed on the Kuwait Stock Exchange and on the Dubai Financial Market with more than 15,000 investors holding shares. The company has over 550 offices in 120 countries, with a growing presence in emerging markets.

Its business groups comprise global integrated logistics, which serve commercial customers in technology, retail, chemicals, and a wide range of other industries, and infrastructure.

These support the needs of the industrial real estate, customs optimisation, and airline services industries, primarily in the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia., and the defence and government services sector, which has been set up to provide logistic services to government and military agencies, relief organisations, and international institutions.