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GI's Arrested in $1M Swag Snag

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GI'S ARRESTED IN $1M SWAG SNAG

April 22, 2003 --

EXCLUSIVE

FOUR sticky-fingered GIs have been arrested for trying to steal nearly $1 million of the $700 million in cold cash found hidden on the grounds of several estates in Baghdad, Army officials said yesterday.

The four enlisted men, who all belong to the 4th Battalion of the 64th Armored Division, face court-martials, said Maj. Kent Rideout.

The mountain of loot uncovered by U.S. forces on Friday apparently was left behind by top Ba'ath Party members and senior Republican Guard commanders who fled Baghdad.

It has been taken to the U.S.-controlled Baghdad Airport for safekeeping and will be returned to the Iraqi people, officials have said.

"You can understand how the greed took over, when just one wad of this cash can pay off your mortgage, send your kids to school, etcetera," one senior officer told The Post.

Three of the arrested GIs, members of an engineering unit attached to the 4th Battalion, are accused of skimming $600,000 of the war booty. They stashed it in a tree near a cottage where they and other members of their unit discovered 37 steel boxes, each containing $4 million in $100 bills.

"They must have made a split-second decision," said a senior officer.

The fourth busted GI, who had been assigned to drive some of the confiscated cash-filled strongboxes to brigade headquarters, is accused of swiping $300,000 and hiding it in a bag, a cooler and a glove box in his Hemmt cargo truck.

The glove box was the first place MPs would look for wayward loot, an officer noted.

Sources said suspicions were aroused when officials found one of the strongboxes had been opened - even though it hadn't been necessary to check its contents because all the boxes were identical in size and weight to those found earlier.

The names of the four GIs were not disclosed last night. Further arrests are not expected, according to Rideout.

An officer said the brigade feared the thefts would overshadow their discovery of the huge hoard of money.

The stashed cash was discovered Friday by two sergeants looking for a chainsaw to cut branches near their new headquarters in the city's palace district noticed a small cottage with cinderblock walls barricading its doors and windows.

When the GIs broke through the walls, they found dozens of steel boxes - with stacks of $100 bills neatly bundled in $100,000 increments.

Other cottages were checked - and other stashes were found. The total amount of cash was estimated at $700 million.

I see nothing wrong with stealing from these people.

pass them over to the local police force,let them deal with em

*sigh* Well, there's really no avoiding it - I suppose it was bound to happen. It's a good thing they caught them though. Of course it would have looked pretty suspicious upon their return anyways, suddenly having all that money.

i am looking forward to what people will conclude based on this article. i'm expecting some absolute statement. what does this say about the armed forces, the US, the army? nothing really. it's an incident.

Quote:

Originally posted by World's King
I see nothing wrong with stealing from these people.

The issue is that that is money that can be used to rebuild Iraq (what it was originally supposed to do in the first place)

Unfortunately, gatecrasher, you're right. People are people - there are bad ones and good ones. These 4 happened to be not-so-good. The fact that they're members of the US army doesn't mean anything.

The money is meant for the people of Iraqi.

Even though they found the money, it doesn't belong to them, therefore they are stealing.

Good for the army to stepping in and enforcing standard laws.

Quote:

Originally posted by SecretMethod70
The issue is that that is money that can be used to rebuild Iraq (what it was originally supposed to do in the first place)

Unfortunately, gatecrasher, you're right. People are people - there are bad ones and good ones. These 4 happened to be not-so-good. The fact that they're members of the US army doesn't mean anything.

I understand that. But why destroy something just for the sake of rebuilding it... It shoun't really be up to us to rebuild. Kick them in the ass; let them deal with it.

It's like killing someone for their money then paying for the funeral.

LOL I would say if it was an 100 years ago or even less no one would had said a damn thing, would be considered spoils of war. It's been done for centuries by conquring armies and by soilders of all armies... I would had hid it better.... but I think all of it should be given to Iraq's people.

its hard to resist, its One Million Dallarz after all !!

A thief is a thief and they sound like thieves to me.

Someone should make a movie.....oh, never mind......