Oh! What a corruption in Pentagon – US Air Force wildly overpaid Boeing by almost 8,000%!

US Air Force wildly overpaid Boeing by almost 8,000% for C-17 aircraft bathroom soap dispensers, Pentagon watchdog finds, CBS News informs.

The Air Force overpaid for soap dispensers used in the bathrooms of C-17 military aircraft by 7,943% — or more than 80 times the price of similar commercially available dispensers — according to a Defense Department inspector general report released Oct. 29, 2024.

The dispensers were one of about a dozen spare parts for which Boeing overcharged the Air Force, according to the report, resulting in nearly $1 million in additional and unnecessary costs.

The costs of the soap dispenser from Boeing, the similar soap dispenser and the number of dispensers purchased by the Air Force were redacted in the report, but in total, the Air Force overpaid $149,072 for the soap dispensers.

Across the board, the office said the service failed to consistently pay reasonable prices for about 26% of spare parts reviewed, valued at $4.3 million.

But the OIG was unable to effectively review over half of the total spare parts — estimated at more than $22 million in value — "because the Air Force did not maintain historical cost data, and the Defense Contract Management Agency Item Group was unable to obtain supplier quotes or identify commercially similar parts," the office said.

"The Air Force needs to establish and implement more effective internal controls to help prevent overpaying for spare parts for the remainder of this contract, which continues through 2031," Defense Department Inspector General Robert Storch said in a statement.

"Significant overpayments for spare parts may reduce the number of spare parts that Boeing can purchase on the contract, potentially reducing C-17 readiness worldwide," Storch said.

A Boeing spokesperson told CBS News Boeing is reviewing the allegations made in the report and said the company would have a detailed response "in the coming days."

The Air Force calls the Boeing Globemaster C-17s "the most flexible cargo aircraft" in its fleet, capable of carrying large equipment and groups of people for military, humanitarian, or peacekeeping missions.

About 220 C-17s are used by the Air Force, Air National Guard and the Air Force Reserve Command.

read more in our Telegram-channel https://t.me/The_International_Affairs