CHICAGO, Nov 28 (Reuters) – The executive counsel of DynCorp International LLC [VETASD.UL] was let go from the military contractor earlier this week, soon after it disclosed that certain payments may have been made to try to ensure business with the U.S. government.

On Wednesday, the company said Curtis Schehr’s employment as senior vice president, chief compliance officer and executive counsel of DynCorp International LLC was terminated without cause as of Monday.

DynCorp International LLC is a subsidiary of DynCorp International Inc (DCP.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz). The company maintains aircraft and provides security and training, dining facilities and other logistics services for defense.

No further details were given in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday.

On Nov. 9, DynCorp said it had identified that certain payments, which it believed totaled about $300,000, were “made to expedite the issuance of a limited number of visas and licenses from foreign government agencies that may raise compliance issues under the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.”

The payments were made to subcontractors “in connection with servicing a single existing task order that the company has with a U.S. government agency.”

At that time, DynCorp said it had retained outside counsel to investigate the payments. The company also said it was evaluating its internal policies and procedures and was committed to improving its compliance procedures.

In the Nov. 9 filing, DynCorp said it brought the payments matters to the attention of the U.S. Department of Justice and the SEC. It did not believe the matters would have a material adverse effect on its business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flow based on facts it knew at that time.

At least two analysts downgraded DynCorp’s shares earlier this month, as they were concerned that U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq could hurt its growth.

(Reporting by Jessica Wohl) Read article at Reuters here.

By Louise Armitstead at Telegraph.co.uk

A former Royal Marine is set to secure an estimated £100m from a planned flotation of Global Defense Technology & Systems, the American arm of his private security firm, on a stock exchange in New York.

Damian Perl, whose London-based firm Global Strategies Group has boomed on the back of some of the biggest security contracts in Iraq and Afghanistan, has started a shareholder roadshow ahead of listing his American division, Global Defense Technology & Systems next week.

The division, which sources say is aiming to raise over $200m, will be listed on Nasdaq. It is being marketed as a rare opportunity for investors to share in America’s burgeoning defence and homeland security expenditure. A spokesperson for the company said they could not comment during the official “quiet period” ahead of the listing.

Mr Perl, who says he trained with both American and British special forces, controls the division and is set to be the main beneficiary at the culmination of a decade of building a security empire.

His original firm, Global Risk Strategies, was founded in 1998. According to his own marketing material, he has grown it from a “small office in south London” into “one of the world’s leading providers of defence and security” operating in 20 countries and working for big corporates and governments.

He is now considered one of the most well-connected personal security executives.

The newly listed firm will be run by John Hillen, a former assistant secretary of state for political-military affairs who was said to be one of Condoleezza Rice’s closest advisers. Another director is John Devine, formerly the senior CIA representative in Britain.

Mr Perl, who is thought to have houses in London, Lake Como and New York, built Global by landing some of the most lucrative contracts in the war zone in the Middle East. He ran the security at Baghdad Airport between 2003 and 2008; helped to introduce the new currency into Afghanistan; and organised convoy protection in Northern Iraq for several years.

The company has also provided the security for Mozambique’s border control, a new infrastructure programme in Liberia and numerous contracts with multinational oil and engineering companies.

Private security firms, many of which have grown on the back of outsourcing from British and American armed forces, have a mixed track record as public companies.

Armor Group, chaired by Sir Malcolm Rifkind, the former foreign secretary, floated in London in December 2004 with a market value of £65m. Although initially successful, it was considered to be too vulnerable to cuts in Government defence spending. The company was bought last year by G4S, formerly Group 4 at 80p per share, down from a peak of 263p in 2005.

By Ben Bland

Manchester Evening News

THE fiancée of a former Royal Marine shot dead in Iraq insists that the British man accused of killing him should stand trial in Iraq – even though it means he could face the death penalty.

Nicci Prestage, 36, described Paul McGuigan’s death as ‘unreal’. And – cradling their five-week-old daughter, Elsie Mai – she said: “Basically I just want to see justice for Paul.”

Paul, 37, who lived in Tameside, was working in Baghdad as a security guard for the private security contractor ArmorGroup.

It is alleged that his colleague Daniel Fitzsimons shot him and Australian Darren Hoare after a booze-fuelled row at a compound in Iraq. Mr Hoare also died.

Paul McGuigan with Nicci Prestage

Fitzsimons, 29, a former paratrooper from Middleton whose family live in Rochdale, is then accused of shooting an Iraqi who tried to take the gun away. His trial is due to begin in Iraq on Sunday and if he is convicted he could be hanged.

But it has emerged that his lawyers are now making last-minute attempts to get the hearing moved to Britain.

His family have said that he was suffering from post- traumatic stress syndrome after serving in Kosovo and Iraq. And solicitor John Tipple said: “If he was in this country he would be in front of psychiatrists by now. We’re determined to bring Danny home.”

But Nicci said that the shootings had taken place in Iraq and added: “I feel that Iraq should be able to serve justice for him.”

Nicci, who had to identify Paul’s body while she was in the late stages of pregnancy, said she realised that Fitzsimons could face the death penalty.

But she said: “I understand that but I also understand that I’m raising a child now with no dad as well. My feelings are just concentrated on the baby that’s left behind and never going to get to see her dad.

By Del Quentin Wilber

Washington Post Staff Writer

A federal judge blocked the public Wednesday from attending a critical set of pretrial hearings in the prosecution of five U.S. security contractors accused of killing 14 unarmed Iraqi civilians in 2007.

The hearings, which are expected to last through next week, will examine whether the government improperly used immunized statements by the Blackwater Worldwide security guards in its investigation. The guards gave the statements to the State Department shortly after the controversial shooting Sept. 16, 2007, in a busy Baghdad square.

U.S. District Judge Ricardo M. Urbina said Wednesday that he was closing the hearings because he wanted to shield witnesses and potential jurors from pretrial publicity. He said he wanted to ensure the guards a fair trial.

The hearings in the District’s federal court were not listed on the public docket, and filings by prosecutors and defense attorneys over the immunity issue have been sealed. A Washington Post reporter learned about the hearings several weeks ago and was told they would be open to the public. Last week, a court clerk told The Post that Urbina intended to close the hearings.

In a letter Tuesday, The Post asked Urbina to reconsider. Post attorney James McLaughlin said the court should have put the proceedings on the open docket and given the public an earlier chance to challenge the basis for the closure of the hearing. He said concerns about the impact of pretrial publicity were “highly speculative” unless supported by factual findings in open court.

Urbina denied The Post’s request. He said the rights of the five guards to a fair trial outweighed the public’s interest in attending the proceedings. He said he was concerned about how news accounts of the statements might affect witnesses, some as far away as Baghdad.

The judge added that he did not see a way to partially open the hearings because they will deal heavily with grand jury information. Grand jury proceedings are, by law, kept secret.

The five guards — Paul Slough, Nicholas Slatten, Evan Liberty, Dustin Heard and Donald Ball — are charged with voluntary manslaughter and weapons violations in the killing of 14 civilians and the wounding of 20 others. The Justice Department alleges that the guards unleashed an unprovoked attack on Iraqi civilians in Nisoor Square while in a convoy. One guard, Jeremy P. Ridgeway, has pleaded guilty and is expected to testify against the others.

Blackwater, which has since renamed itself Xe, had a contract to provide security for the State Department in Iraq.

The Justice Department’s investigation has been complicated by many factors.

Agents and prosecutors were barred from gleaning information from immunized statements the guards gave to officials with the State Department Bureau of Diplomatic Security. When officials took the statements from the guards, the State Department was under pressure to quickly assess what happened.

The proceedings underway, known as Kastigar hearings, will probe how well investigators gathered evidence without being tainted by those immunized statements. If the judge finds the government’s case is tainted, he might throw out the indictment.

To read this article at the Washington Post website click here.