“As a result of a SIGAR investigation that uncovered corruption in the award of a nearly $1 billion, multi-year Afghan Ministry of Defense (MOD) fuel contract, SIGAR has developed a relationship with the new Afghan national-unity government that promises to create unique opportunities for us to help them fight corruption. The breakthrough came after SIGAR and the Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan (CSTC-A) briefed President Ashraf Ghani on February 1, 2015, that four contractors had engaged in price-fixing, bid-rigging, and bribery prior to the award of the MOD fuel contract, criminally increasing its cost to the Afghan government and the American taxpayer by more than $214 million. Following the briefing, President Ghani immediately suspended the MOD officials involved in the fuel contract award, cancelled the entire contract, warned the contractors involved of possible debarment, and assigned an independent Afghan investigator to look into the award of the MOD fuel contract, as well as that of an additional 11 MOD contracts for other commodities. Such rapid and decisive action sends a strong signal in a country routinely rated as one of the world’s most corrupt…[emphasis added]“