On November 5, 2010, the Louis Berger Group of Morristown, one of the principal American engineering contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan, agreed to pay more than $69 million to settle allegations of cheating the U.S. government. Specifically, the company is accused of illegally billing the government for costs not directly related to its work overseas, including legal and accounting fees, rent and other general company costs tied to its offices in New Jersey and Washington D.C. The settlement came through a deferred prosecution agreement, which gives prosecutors authority to reopen the investigation if the company engages in future wrongdoing. Overall, the settlement is among the largest to stem from a case involving war-zone contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan.
