Accenture--more government corruption!

linttrap

Contributing Member
ACCENTURE

Shining light on company behind felon voter list

By CHRIS DAVIS and MATTHEW DOIG

chris.davis@heraldtribune.com
matthew.doig@heraldtribune.com

Accenture, a $14 billion company that has made millions doing government jobs, was supposed to help Florida create a bulletproof felon voter list.

But state elections officials scrapped the list Saturday after newspaper reports reported a flaw that invalidated it.

The demise of the list, which was three years in the making, renews questions about Accenture's strong Republican ties and its business practices.

In fact, the company's resume is littered with connections to drama that the nation's Republican leadership would rather forget: Enron, Abu Ghraib and mysterious Saudi businessmen.

The company, once part of Enron's accounting firm, Arthur Andersen, jettisoned the Andersen name in 2001 to distance itself from scandal.

But like Enron, it hasn't escaped the image of a company willing to bend the rules.

Last month, some members of Congress expressed concern about the Department of Homeland Security's giving a $10 billion contract to Accenture. They cited Accenture's Bermuda address, which they said was an attempt to dodge U.S. taxes.
Accenture eventually won the contract to design a system to track foreign visitors entering or leaving the United States.

Accenture will work on the venture with Titan Corporation, one of the companies whose employees were caught up in the Abu Ghraib prison torture scandal in Iraq.

According to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics, Accenture gave almost $192,000 to Republicans or Republican causes, and $116,000 to Democrats.

Before the 2002 election, Accenture gave $25,000 to Florida Republicans and none to Democrats, according to a Florida Division of Election records.

U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, D-Fla., questions why state officials would put Florida's voters in the hands of a company with so many political ties.

"It smacks of political overtones," Meek said.

From the days when it was called Andersen Consulting, Accenture has drawn fire for running up prices on government contracts and missing deadlines.

Contracts in Texas, Virginia, Nebraska and Canada cost those governments millions more than expected, according to the Polaris Institute, which creates profiles on companies that do business with government.

The federal Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating Accenture for a possible violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the U.S. law banning bribery of foreign officials. Accenture announced the investigation last week, saying it involved operations in the Middle East.
The company said the matter is also under review by the federal Department of Justice.

Meek said the state could have found a company without "such a history of wrong-doing and sloppy work."

Remainder of article at:

http://www.newscoast.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040714/NEWS/407140620/1060&Page=2

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Could our government have picked a slimier company to pay billions to?

I just love to think about my tax dollars going to companies like this....

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