SmarTrend(R) News Watch: Municipal Pension Fund Sues Halliburton, KBR Inc.

A pension fund for the Policemen and Fireman Retirement System of the City of Detroit filed a complaint against Halliburton Co (NYSE:HAL) and KBR Inc. (NYSE:KBR) in a Houston state court Thursday, saying the companies' lack of oversight and recklessness resulted in a corrupt and criminal environment. The complaint cites several cases of wrongdoing by KBR, once a subsidiary of Halliburton, including overbilling for services to American forces, waste, concealing the rape of an employee, bribery in Nigeria to win contracts and multiple cases of fraud and corruption in both foreign and domestic operations. Halliburton's board of directors, including Dick Cheney, are accused of breach of fiduciary duty for an inability to control years of poor business practices that resulted in fines, penalties and settlements to the U.S. government, hurting the value of shares. Seeking a jury trial and damages, the complaint states, "As fiduciaries ... the Halliburton defendants were required to exercise prudent supervision over the management, policies, practices, controls, and financial and corporate affairs of Halliburton and KBR, which Halliburton controlled."

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