Maury Brown, typically of the Biz of Baseball, has somewhat of an exposé on Jim Crane - baseball's most controversial (potential) owner.
The most troubling allegation is that of the war profiteering charges against Eagle Global Logistics. Brown:
In August 2006, Eagle paid $4 million to settle a civil lawsuit brought by the Department of Justice alleging that the company had inflated the costs of military shipments to Iraq. The company had allegedly added $0.50 for each kilogram of freight transported to Baghdad, war risk surcharges, on shipments from Dubai to Iraq from November 2003 to July 2004.
In June 2007, Eagle paid $300,000 to settle allegations of overcharging the government. Many details of the allegations are not available as civil records for the case prior to 2010 are sealed.
In November 2008, Eagle paid $750,000 to settle allegations of providing kickbacks in order to procure contracts. Many details of the allegations are not available as civil records for the case prior to 2010 are sealed.
The company was accused of conspiring with other shipping companies to price fix and overcharge the U.S. and British governments in the war effort. The Department of Justice ultimately agreed to stop pursuing the criminal charges against Eagle when Eagle fired its employees involved in the scheme, paid a $4,486,120.00 fine and agreed to cooperate in the government’s investigation. However, Chris Cahill, Eagle’s former regional VP in the Middle East and India, was jailed for 30 months beginning in August 2006, issued 2 years supervised release and a $10,000 fine (read the conviction).
Click the link for the full story, it's well worth it.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
