Report: Blackwater created 30 shell companies to get gov’t work after Iraq shootings

Report: Blackwater created shell companies

WASHINGTON — The New York Times is reporting that the security company Blackwater Worldwide formed a network of 30 shell companies and subsidiaries to get government business after the company faced strong criticism for its conduct in Iraq.

The report Friday night on the newspaper’s website says Sen. Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, has asked the Justice Department to see whether Blackwater misled the government when using the subsidiaries to gain government contracts.

The Times says Levin’s committee has found that Blackwater, which now is known as Xe (zee) Services, went to great lengths to find ways to get lucrative government work despite criminal charges and criticism stemming from a 2007 incident in which Blackwater guards killed 17 Iraqi civilians.