Ex-employees sue Blackwater, accuse company of overbilling, spending on strippers, prostitute

Ex-employees sue Blackwater, allege overbilling

RALEIGH, N.C. — Two former Blackwater Worldwide employees say in a federal lawsuit that the security company repeatedly billed the U.S. government for excessive or inappropriate expenses.

Brad and Melan Davis, a married couple, claim Blackwater officials deceived the government by double-billing for travel costs and creating false invoices.

Melan Davis says she found that a prostitute in Afghanistan was placed on Blackwater’s payroll under the “Morale Welfare Recreation” category. She says workers responding to Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana paid a vendor for “cleaning services” but the vendor would instead provide strippers.

A spokesman for Blackwater, which has since changed its name to Xe, did not immediately return a call seeking comment.