The fraud started when the Pentagon transferred the supply of provisions to private companies to save money, with Supreme Group getting part of the business. We established the Supreme Foundation in 2009 with the aim of investing in community projects that make a real difference in peoples lives. "The kleptocracy got stronger over time, to the point that the priority of the Afghan government became not good governance but sustaining this kleptocracy," Kolenda said. Markets never sleep, and neither does Bloomberg News. One of the top suppliers of fresh food to U.S. forces in Afghanistan was Netherlands based Supreme Group BV, founded by American Alfred Orenstein. But thats just part of its business. But many more exploited their family ties to government officials or provincial warlords in order to secure lucrative contracts. No credit card required. Document No: LEG-EC-G-001 | Version No: 4 | Version Date: 2013.03.19 | Authorized by: Director of Ethics and Compliance | Page 6 . 0 Supreme Foundation donated text books, tables, chairs, white boards, notice boards and stationery school kits to the Center, as well as teacher supplies such as encyclopedias, multi-lingual story books and art materials. Private-sector readings show job postings receding more than government reports of job openings. In 2009, Shadman's company billed the Department of Defense for $45 million. We are delighted to have achieved excellent results that have fostered hope and given people better chances in life, said Stephen Orenstein, Principal, Supreme Group. families, communities and countries. http://www.securityconference.de/fileadmin/MSC_/PDF/Participants_MSC2013_01.pdf. Afghan warlord Haji Tor Gani (R), hosts an iftar reception for US military officials belonging to 2nd Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, led by Lieutenant Colonel Gregory Anderson (L) in observance of Islam's holy month of Ramadan, at Tor Gani's highly secured compound in a village at Zahri distict in Afghanistan's southern Kandahar province, on August 11, 2011. In 2010, Dr. Rangin Spanta, then-President Hamid Karzai's national security advisor, told U.S. officials, "Corruption is not just a problem for the system of governance in Afghanistan. The February 25 . When American troops arrived in the country, Hashimy was hired as an interpreter. In addition, Supreme Foundation has sponsored the appointment of a full-time IT teacher to teach computer studies to all students every day. We are proud to be Britains trusted partner of choice in providing proven supply chain solutions to the U.K. Military, EU and Commonwealth Government departments both within the home countries and across deployments worldwide, Orenstein added. The former supplier of food and beverages to U.S. troops in Afghanistan agreed to pay $389 million in fines and damages after admitting it overcharged the Pentagon for fresh food and bottled water, one of the largest penalties ever imposed on a defense supplier. Once the company started flying cargo planes and helicopters, he testified, it was very common that the percentage of total revenue, the service fee percentage, exceeded 75 percent. That means, for every $100 pound bag of apples, the company could charge $175. He also counsels clients involved with marketplace lending and student and payday loans. Stephen Orenstein joined Supreme Group as a part of the sales division in 1985[5]. . But veterans of the conflict say statistics like these can obscure what was in reality a more complicated and ethically murky situation. June 11 - Jurassic Park, directed by Steven Spielberg, is released in theaters as the first film in the Jurassic . We need support from organizations, as many students are too poor to receive a formal education, so we are grateful for the assistance of Supreme Foundation. See more at: http://www.supreme-group.net/node/149#sthash.IwMBA8vC.dpuf” Source Excerpt:http://www.supreme-group.net/node/14. Stephen Orenstein noted that Supreme Group established its Mongolian operations in 2012. Supreme makes no bones about its lucrative opportunities. Hashimy is a multimillionaire, and he has been one of the few wealthy Afghans willing to speak publicly about the corruption that pervades his country. He was the Republican nominee for governor of Minnesota in the 2022 election.. Jensen was born and raised in Sleepy Eye, Minnesota.He earned his M.D. The more you can do locally, the more receptivity you have from the people in that area. .css-16c7pto-SnippetSignInLink{-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;cursor:pointer;}Sign In, Copyright 2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. An overview of Supremes first Mongolian commercial catering project project, located in the South Gobi Desert. Stephen is related to Geanne L Smith and Jeanne L Orenstein. Stephen Orenstein is a participant in the Munich Security Conference this year. Supreme Group Steve Orenstein Senior Operations Manager at Verizon Wireless Leander, TX. The Group has operated in Afghanistan It took just moments for us to decide to do the deal said Orenstein. 839 0 obj <>/Filter/FlateDecode/ID[<335697D5C0AAF041BE85E287063F8B89><7ACCEA40E6D97B4BBB9924475FF24464>]/Index[823 31]/Info 822 0 R/Length 82/Prev 968007/Root 824 0 R/Size 854/Type/XRef/W[1 2 1]>>stream Orenstein is married to Petra Orenstein, ne Schweikart since 1997[11]. Attempts to locate Shadman were unsuccessful. A person shows US dollars outside an exchange office, remained close since August 15th, following their reopening after Taliban takeover on September 04, 2021 in Kabul, Afghanistan. Abandoned air bases, half-finished construction projects and tens of thousands of untraceable guns litter the countryside, all purchased with American money. Its subsidiaries inflated costs and manipulated prices to increase profits. The legacy began in 1957, when a former US Army foodservice soldier recognized the need to provide food supply solutions to US military installations in Germany. Verffentlicht am August 27, 2020 von SUPREME FOODSERVICE, GMBH; SUPREME GROUP USA LLC; SADER AL KHAIL GENERAL TRADING, LLC; STEPHEN C. ORENSTEIN; SOREN BORUP NORGAARD; HAJI OBAIDULLAH SADE KHAIL, Defendants - Appellees. His wife, Petra, owns Cara Investment[12][13], a Frankfurt-based family office with a large real estate holding. LOADING. "There is corruption that spreads the wealth and takes care of everybody, that gets to the widows and orphans," Boucher said in a 2015 interview with SIGAR. A sharper-than-expected expansion of activity offers Chinese leaders an opportunity to shift the spotlight away from pandemic missteps. "Probably in the end it is going to make sure that more of the money gets to some villager, maybe through five layers of corrupt officials, but still gets to some villager," Boucher told the SIGAR team. In a brief interview, Gans downplayed his companys rapid growth, suggesting it was simply logical to expand from delivering food to serving it. MetPublications is a portal to the Met's comprehensive publishing program featuring over five decades of Met books, Journals, Bulletins, and online publications on art history available to read, download and/or search for free. A service contract is included in the sponsorship program, which means that all equipment will be serviced by computer engineers every week. The company agreed to pay $389 million in fines and damages, one of the largest penalties ever imposed on a defense contractor at the time. Court records obtained by Newsweek also disclose that Supreme Group had been paying a percentage of its government income to another contractor, which had helped it get started in the business but has now been indicted for fraud in a separate case. For more than a decade Supreme Group has successfully supported the U.K. Armed Forces in operations and exercises in Germany, Poland, Norway, Belize, Oman, Bosnia, Kosovo, Sierra Leone, Afghanistan and Iraq. Weve got to take a look at that.. For more than fifty years Supreme Group has provided critical, life-sustaining services that empower peace keeping and military forces to accomplish their missions. Name. We've updated our privacy policy. In a country where roads are often controlled by tribal warlords, transporting necessary and lifesaving supplies overland to American soldiers often requires paying fees for safe passage to whichever group controls the roads. Marcus Yam | Los Angeles Times | Getty Images. Afghanistan. That quickly grew to $3 billion as Supreme expanded its reach beyond food to other transportation operations. Live from London, tracking the breaking and top business news stories in the lead-up to the opening of European markets. our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. Chemical warfare and car bombings are just a few of the hazards working in war-torn countries such as Iraq and Syria. The company also agreed to pay $101 million to settle a whistle-blower lawsuit, $38.3 million to refund the troop-support agency for bottled water, and $45 million to address other allegations. But under Taliban rule, networks like Hashimy's 1TV face an uncertain future. Like Hashimy, Shadman was one of the first Afghan interpreters hired by American troops at the start of the war. We discovered that not only is the IT education is very poor, but qualified teachers are also rare and there is almost no access to computers. People see that and it helps offset some of the other things that go on that were not real happy about., http://www.armedforces-int.com/article/meals-in-mongolia.html. Stephen Orenstein, Supreme Group Principal: "Supreme Foundation opens IT lab for 2,000 disadvantaged students in Kabul, Afghanistan" Stephen Orenstein says "Access to computers and a qualified teacher will ensure a brighter future for the children" - @Zoom2uOndemand In July, Hashimy told The Wall Street Journal he was looking for ways to broadcast from outside Afghanistan. Dail himself passed through that revolving door, leaving in 2008 as head of the Defense Logistics Agency, which had awarded Supreme Group its contracts, and going to work the next year at the contractor. Click image or button bellow to READ or DOWNLOAD FREE Calypso Book Information : Title : Calypso Rating : Author : Lan. Supreme confirmed to Newsweek it is the target of a federal investigation into its billing practices after an audit report this year lambasted both Supreme Group and the Defense Logistics Agency, which awards the firm most of its business. Zum Inhalt springen. The group, headquartered in Amsterdam and owned by American billionaire Stephen Orenstein, pleaded guilty to criminal charges and agreed to pay . Soon, Supreme Group balked at paying the fee to its mentor, PWC, prompting arbitration. A solider carries food into a meal station at an Army outpost in the village of Balanday, Afghanistan, in this June 3 photo. In a statement to Newsweek, DLA says Supreme was the only contractor capable of providing the services in the required timeframe. The Pentagon says the next food contract for Afghanistan, however, will be decided competitively, and the bidding is already in the works. In the early years of the war in Afghanistan, when American soldiers were still hunting al-Qaeda terrorists and battling Taliban fighters, the idea of using local Afghan contractors to supply U.S. military bases seemed like a good one. Redirecting you to the search page. And like Halliburton, Supremes meteoric rise is now garnering scrutiny. Stephen Ross and Donald Trump in 2010. In a statement, Supreme Group added, The majority of issues have now been resolved.. "You just can't. CNBC reached out to his company and requested an interview, but no one replied. Congress is now stirring on the matter. He quickly built a network of truckers and subcontractors who were known for their reliability, according to a New Yorker profile of Shadman. Karwan Elm Educational Center is an independent, non-profit, non-political institution that provides education to around 200 students, half of which study for free. PWC, which has changed its name (to Agility), has pleaded not guilty. The government alleged that he had paid kickbacks to U.S. soldiers and Afghan government officials in exchange for his contracts, and that he grossly inflated his costs and billed the Defense Department for work that was never done. A Division of NBCUniversal. Tap here to review the details. 11/154, 12/59; R4 tab 376 at 1) , 1. to discuss Supreme's capabilities. Stephen Orenstein attended Kimball Union Academy high school in New Hampshire before enrolling at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania to obtain a medical degree. Defendant. In 2014, Supreme Group pleaded guilty to fraud charges that included creating a fake subcontractor and billing the government for the subcontractor's fees. Stephen Orenstein. 2. Supreme Foodservice, GMBH. Refusing to pay the warlords who controlled the roads would have almost certainly meant grave harm for soldiers and contractors. During the same year, the family office sold a tower building in Frankfurt for an alleged amount of 300m[17]. Since 2018, Orenstein is member of the Eintracht Frankfurt football club supervisory board[2]. Stephen Orenstein, Major Business Leader Profile, Stephen Orenstein, Supreme Group Principal: Supreme Foundation opens IT lab for 2,000 disadvantaged students in Kabul, Afghanistan, Stephen Orenstein says UK MoD Awards Supreme Group Worldwide Fuel SupplyContract, Stephen Orenstein Launches Most Comprehensive Ethics Program in DefenseContracting. Live from London, tracking the breaking and top business news stories in the lead-up to the opening of European markets. All told, between 2007 and 2012, Shadman's trucking company collected $167 million from U.S. government contracts, according to bank statements. This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. How to Geta Free Flight to Hong Kong in 500,000 Airline Ticket Giveaway, Stocks Drop for a Second Day; Yields Stay Elevated: Markets Wrap, China Warns Hedonistic Bankers to Toe the Communist Party Line, The SPAC Fad Is Ending in a Pile of Bankruptcies and Fire Sales, Apple Suppliers Are Racing to Exit China, AirPods Maker Says. Several of the Afghans who became millionaires working as U.S. contractors started out as interpreters for American soldiers, accompanying service members on dangerous missions during some of the deadliest years of the war. As of October 2013, his net worth is estimated at US$1.1bn according to Bloomberg Billionaires Index|Bloomberg[4]. Since 2005, the companys various Pentagon contracts in Afghanistan have been worth $8 billion. for more than 10 years in support of many of the worlds leading organizations, governments Members of the US Supreme Court pose for a group photo in Washington, DC, in April 2021. 2023 CNBC LLC. It is a problem, all of these sole-source contracts, says Bunnatine Bunny Greenhouse, an Army Corps of Engineers official who blew the whistle on excessive spending associated with no-bid contracts awarded to Halliburton during the Iraq War. Supreme Group is a leader in the provision of end-to-end supply chain solutions in some of In a statement to Newsweek, Supreme Group argues its success fee to PWC did not cost American taxpayers extra, because it came out of its own profits. For over fifty years we have partnered with. The Munich Security Conference is an international conference centered on international security policy. The plea and settlement were announced Monday by U.S. Attorney Zane David Memeger and accepted at a hearing before the District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Steve Orenstein - @steveorenstein Steve Orenstein is the founder and CEO of Zoom2u Technologies (ASX:Z2U), Zoom2u Technologies. The Defense Logistics Agencys food distribution centers in Afghanistan are providing fresher food to troops and also creating thousands of jobs for local Afghans, stated Stephen Orenstein of Supreme Group. In 1985, Orenstein dropped out of college after 3 years of his studies to return to Frankfurt following the death of his father, Alfred Orenstein. Monitor your investments 24 hours a day, around the clock from around the globe. Bilal Guler | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images. USPS, under pressure on costs, contracts trucking companies at cut rates and pushes them to meet aggressive delivery schedules. Orensteins father founded Supreme Group in 1957. In a sense, PWC served as a kind of talent agency for Supreme Group, mentoring it, coaching it, and then earning a fee. "You could be hardcore about stuff and say, 'We're not going to pay nobody,' but, I'm telling you, you were going to get hit on the road," Rodney Castleman, an American employee of an Afghan trucking company, told The New Yorker. We worked closely with the Ministry of Borders and Tribal Affairs to first understand what was required in schools, said Victoria Frost, Supreme Groups Director of Communications and Treasurer of Supreme Foundation. Orenstein became a. The group, headquartered in Amsterdam and owned by American billionaire Stephen Orenstein, pleaded guilty to criminal charges and agreed to pay large fines as well to resolve civil suits in. Mayor Lori Lightfoot, weighed down by fights with unions and a surge in crime, failed to qualify for a runoff electionfour years after winning all 50 of Chicagos wards. Our mantra is to provide the same quality of service in Rwanda or Somalia as . Pan Asian Group, Office No. It wasn't just Americans who saw this happening. "Stephen Orenstein - Eintracht Frankfurt Club", "Military supplier to pay $389m in fraud case", "Supreme Billionaire Feeds Armies as U.S. Court Battle Blazes", "Dubai supplier becomes billionaire feeding US war machine | Arabian Post", "Une firme suisse surfacture ses denres l'arme amricaine", "Mega-Busse fr Schweizer Firma: Food-Lieferant zockte US-Militr ab", https://www.pappers.fr/entreprise/victoire-sci-480024298/documents/VICTOIRE%20SCI%20-%20Statuts%20constitutifs%2020-12-2004.pdf, "CARA ADVISORY LIMITED persons with significant control - Find and update company information - GOV.UK", "Socit MOUNTAINVIEW SAS: Chiffre d'affaires, statuts, Kbis", "Cara Real Estate buys London mixed-use building for 71M", "Single Family Office from Frankfurt Sells Office Tower for 300M", "Lincoln Property Company and Cara Investment Acquire 384 Post Street Property on Union Square in San Francisco", "Mietvertrag endet 2024: Family Office verkauft Stammsitz der Bank Oddo BHF", article "Stephen Orenstein" is from Wikipedia, https://wikitia.com/index.php?title=Stephen_Orenstein&oldid=168014, CS1 Schweizer Hochdeutsch-language sources (de). And Supreme Group, the firm he co-owns with his German-born wife, Nina Von Steuben, and American businessman Stephen Orenstein, is hardly a household name in the U.S. with its main. There are 10+ professionals named "Steven Orenstein", who use LinkedIn to exchange information, ideas, and opportunities. Stephen Orenstein, a billionaire. The violations arise out of false claims for payment and other unlawful conduct in connection with a contract between Supreme Foodservice AG and the United States in which Supreme promised A company called Public Warehousing Company of Kuwait was already transporting military food into Iraq. Supremes position as a company, Dail tells Newsweek, would be that we disagree with the implication that we overcharged the government. and diplomatic missions. JTA Henry Orenstein, a Holocaust survivor who went on to invent the Transformers toys and became a major donor to Jewish and Israeli causes, died Tuesday at the age of 98. Investigators for Rep. John Tierney of Massachusetts, a top Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, are examining Supremes work, and Tierney is calling for a full committee investigation. And Supreme Group, the firm he co-owns with his German-born wife, Nina Von Steuben, and American businessman Stephen Orenstein, is hardly a household name in the U.S. with its main operations in the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Dubai. Click here to review the details. Stephen Orenstein noted that Supreme Group established its Mongolian operations in 2012. Golf's Greatest Holes: Golfing legend Paul McGinley takes television presenter Chris Hollins on a tour of the best golf courses in Ireland and Northern Ireland. In 2012, the Department of Justice accused Shadman of fraud. Getty. This might all be inside baseballtechnical contracting disputesexcept for the fact that every single soldier in Afghanistan depends on the food Supreme Group flies into the country, everything from chili powder to pancake mix to prime rib. The students will be taught about basic computer hardware, Windows operating systems, MS Office, typing skills, various software programs, how to use email and the internet, and how to pursue further studies in Information Technology. Contacts. The group, headquartered in Amsterdam and owned by American billionaire Stephen Orenstein, pleaded guilty to criminal charges and agreed to pay . Overnight on Wall Street is morning in Europe. "The bottom line is corruption is the biggest problem we have," Hashimy told National Public Radio in 2013. October 25 . stephen orenstein Managing director supreme Group. And then in 2009, a federal grand jury indicted PWC for allegedly engineering a massive fraud in its operations in Iraq. Stephen Orenstein (born December 28, 1963 in Frankfurt) [1] [2] is a German-American billionaire businessman, and Principal of Supreme Group, an overseas supplier of food and and fuel that notably supplied U.S. Army military personnel in Afghanistan that was founded by his father. Monitor your investments 24 hours a day, around the clock from around the globe. June 9 - The Montreal Canadiens win their 24th Stanley Cup, defeating the Los Angeles Kings in the Finals. That's how much money America spent on 20 years of war and nation-building in Afghanistan, according to Brown University's Costs of War project. provision of aviation fuel and refuelling services to 96 civilian airports worldwide, predominantly for the Royal Air Force. The Pentagons growing reliance on such no-bid contracts alarms some watchdogs, who fear bypassing competitive contracting puts taxpayers at risk of being overcharged. (The $3.74 price per pound shipped was an oversight, the Pentagon told auditors.) For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact MetPublications is a portal to the Met's comprehensive publishing program featuring over five decades of Met books, Journals, Bulletins, and online publications on art history available to read, download and/or search for free. United States of America. . That money has helped create a tiny class of young, ultra-rich Afghans, many of whom made their fortunes as government contractors. REL ASADULLAH SADERKHAIL, Plaintiffs - Appellants, v. SUPREME FOODSERVICE, GMBH; SUPREME GROUP USA LLC; SADER AL KHAIL GENERAL TRADING, LLC; STEPHEN C. ORENSTEIN; SOREN BORUP NORGAARD; HAJI . DLA currently has two distribution centers, one in Kabul in the north of the country and a second one in Helmand province in the south. Part of the reason he likes owning a TV station, Hashimy said, is because it allowed him the freedom to call out corruption where he saw it. Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes. . The DLA employee summarized the conversation in an email and sent it to, among others, MAJ Joseph H. Alvarez, who forwarded it to Gary Shifton (R4, tab 376 at 1-2). "It was the weight of endemic corruption.". For over fifty years we have partnered with military and international peace-keeping forces to ensure troops in conflict zones are equipped with the supplies necessary for mission success. hbbd``b`$"S!$X@aq$f@HlX|d# + Get this delivered to your inbox, and more info about our products and services. We welcome oversight.. PO Box 39865. Verizon Wireless, +2 more . For more than fifty years, the company has provided critical, life-sustaining services that empower clients to accomplish missions in challenging and austere environments. I can see why you would ask that question, he told Newsweek, but I really was hired to develop business outside of the current business., Experts say government insiders like Dail can bring enormous value to contractors even if they never contact their old agencies. Supreme Foodservice, GMBH, No. AG, Supreme Group B.V., Supreme Foodservice GmbH & Co.KG, Jamal Ahli Foods Co. LLC d/b/a JAFCO, Stephen Orenstein . As troop levels increased, so did Shadman's revenue. Partner, Washington, D.C. Joe Orenstein Professor of Physics, UC Berkeley , Member of Staff, LBNL Office: (510) 486-5880 Email: jworenstein@lbl.gov Department of Physics University of California 329 Birge Hall Berkeley, CA 94720 USA Changmin Lee Postdoctoral Researcher, UC Berkeley Office: (510) 486-5879 Email: cmlee@lbl.gov LBNL, M/S 2-324 Berkeley, CA 94720 USA Stephen Orenstein stephen.orenstein Lives in Dubai, United Arab Emirates Worked at Supreme Group Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Rossie David Alston, Jr., District Judge. The centers serve about 250 locations throughout Afghanistan, Faso said. Hashimy's current whereabouts are unclear. Supreme Group BV pleaded guilty to fraud charges related to its handling of an $8.8 billion supply contract that was extended twice before the company lost the business in 2013. Shadman denied all the allegations against him, and several of the U.S. soldiers who worked with Shadman in Kandahar publicly came to his defense. http://online.wsj.com/articles/supreme-group-fined-350-million-over-food-deals-1418048001. Whatever the outcome, the rise of Supreme Group is a classic tale of a Pentagon procurement system still laboring to overcome decades of suspicions about overpriced hammers and toilet seats, conflicts of interests, kickbacks, and a revolving door between the government and private contractors. The Supreme group employs 13,000 Afghan nationals and spends millions of dollars on the local Afghan economy each year. _sought profits guaranteed at 10% for the airplane flights and 13% for helicopters. Supreme is the prime contractor and has a staff of more than 90 percent locals who do everything from working in the warehouses to driving trucks, Faso said. (Updated: 1:43 PM, 8/8/2019) Topline: A report that Stephen Ross, the billionaire owner of the Equinox and SoulCycle fitness clubs and the Miami . He doesnt reside inside Washingtons Beltway, preferring instead his home in Germany or a multimillion-dollar duplex on New Yorks Fifth Avenue, overlooking Central Park. Stephen Orenstein is on Facebook. Facebook gives people the power to share and makes the world more open and connected. Supreme Group USA LLC. Supreme Foodservice GmbH, a logistics company co-owned by billionaire Stephen Orenstein, agreed to pay $434 million to settle criminal and civil allegations that it overbilled the U.S. for. You can read the details below. U.S. Army soldiers from the 101st Airborne division off load during a combat mission from a Chinook 47 helicopter March 5, 2002 in Eastern Afghanistan. Years later, a resurgent Taliban would capitalize on this erosion ofpublic trust by offering Afghans what looked to many like a better alternative to the kleptocracy. It is the system of governance.". Today, we also specialize in providing comprehensive . The supplier of food to U.S. troops in Afghanistan is being probed for its billings. Over time, U.S. government contracts became the fuel for a system of mass corruption that engulfed the country and, eventually, doomed its fragile democracy. Steve supports clients as they wade through the alphabet soup of regulations that impact their mortgage lending and servicing activities. where Supreme Group operates. Email: stephen.ornstein@alston.com. As the majority owner of Supreme Group BV, Orenstein has overseen the delivery of food and fuel to some of the most inhospitable parts of the world, including Liberia, Mali and Sudan.

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