US prosecutors move to withdraw Agility fraud charges

FRAUD charges against Kuwaiti logistics provider Agility are being withdrawn by US federal prosecutors in Atlanta after the emergence of undisclosed "exculpatory material".

The US Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia has filed a motion to dismiss a fraud case against Agility Logistics, reported American Shipper.

The request to dismiss pertains only to Agility DGS Holdings, and not to Public Warehousing Co or Agility DGS Logistics Services, two other Kuwaiti-based parts of the company, which Agility is also trying to have dismissed, according to Bloomberg.

The decision by the US Attorney goes a long way to end the affair that has plagued the firm for months, preventing it from bidding on US government contracts and risking enormous damage claims.

The investigation began in 2007 after a whistleblower lawsuit by a former business associate and cousin of chairman Tarek Sultan. A grand jury charged the global 3PL for submitting inflated bills and false claims under a large food procurement and delivery contract.

Said an Agility spokesman: "As we have consistently maintained since the outset of this litigation, this case should never have been brought in a criminal court. This case is, at most, a civil contract dispute over the interpretation of a contract drafted by the government."
(Source:www.schednet.com)