Six months ago:
  • Fiat, the Italian carmaker, has agreed to pay $17.8 million to settle claims it gave kickbacks to Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq under the United Nations' oil-for-food scheme.

    According to a complaint filed with by America's Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), three of Fiat's subsidiaries paid more than $4.3 million to Iraq between 2000 and 2003, disguised as "after sales service fees".

    Fiat acknowledged that three of its subsidiaries, Iveco, CNH Italia and CNH France, made "improper payments" to the Iraqi government to obtain contracts to provide Iraqi Ministries with industrial pumps, gears and other equipment.

    The payment meant that money was diverted to Iraqi-controlled accounts rather than to a United Nations third-party account set up for the purchase of humanitarian goods.


At the very least this points to the potential for conflict of interest that arises when the federal government politicizes large segments of the economy.