How to find Sarah Lee: Step 1

The Excluded Parties List System, provided as a free service by the US General Services Administration, includes information regarding entities debarred, suspended, proposed for debarment, excluded or disqualified under the non-procurement common rule, or otherwise declared ineligible from receiving Federal contracts, certain subcontracts, and certain Federal assistance and benefits.
Therefore it should come as no surprise to see that it contains information about the two companies, Bennett-Fouch Associates and K5 Global, that were suspended from US army contracts recently (see below) for failing to pay their Afghan subcontractors.
According to the EPLS website, Bennett & Fouch Associates of 1805 Florence Road, Ste 9, Killeen, Texas and K5 Global of 329 Bob Moore Rd, Anacoco, Louisiana, were entered onto the list on 27 December 2010 for an indefinite period.
Also added at the same time were Gary Brandon of Dallas, Texas, Sarah Helen Lee of Anacoco, Louisiana and Sarah Lee Mitcham, also of Anacoco (who may or may not be the same person as Sarah Helen Lee). According to the 2003 Alumnus magazine of Northwestern State University of Louisana Susan H Lee Mitcham was an emergency room Registered Nurse at Christus Jasper Memorial Hospital in Texas and lived in Anacoco.
Interestingly, Anacoco has a population of only around 756, so it should not be too difficult for anyone to find Ms Lee if she is still there. The US Army said in a statement last week that it had been unable to find Ms Lee since she skipped Afghanistan last year without paying her bills. She is alleged to be the owner of the two companies.
Perhaps they may have better luck if they check out Fort Polk, just a few miles away, an army base that happens to be home to the Joint Readiness Training Center, the 4th Brigade, 10th Mountain Division and the 162nd Infantry Brigade? It presently provides contingency training for the Army's light infantry and special forces before deployment to Afghanistan. It is in the process of doubling its 100,000-acre training area, much of which is in the Kisatchie National Forest. I feel sure Ms Lee has the odd contact or two on the base.

US companies run from Afghan creditors

Rather late in the day the US military has suspended contracting privileges to two companies in Afghanistan over allegations they failed to pay their Afghan subcontractors. According to a statement from Coalition forces, several Afghan companies have brought allegations of nonpayment against Bennett-Fouch Associates and K5 Global, both of which are owned by a 45-year-old American woman named Sarah Lee. "The failure of firms to pay their local national workforce or local national subcontractors adversely affects counterinsurgency strategy," the coalition said in the statement.
Bennett-Fouch appears to have lied when it told local Afghan contractors last spring that it could not pay them because it had not been paid by the US government."In reality", the Coalition statement said, "the U.S. government had paid Bennett-Fouch for the work on the construction projects." In April last year the company had closed its local offices and bank accounts in Afghanistan and had left the country owing hundreds of thousands of dollars in unpaid bills.
According to one report, US Ambassador Karl Eikenberry was told about Sarah Lee's companies at an event in Kabul in June and promised in public to solve the problem. Nothing further happened until the announcement this week. What has now happened is that the US Army will investigate the claims from creditors and not award any further work to the two companies until it has reviewed the evidence. This could take up to 18 months.
Lee's companies seem to be involved in basic construction work in Afghanistan, such as building sewers, although in Iraq they were also involved in building a radio station and selling airtime for advertising to the US Army, as well as supplying generators and other items of equipment.
However, since reneging on payments in Afghanistan last spring, 45 year-old Sarah Lee appears to have gone to ground. The Coalition statement says "The US government attempted to contact Bennett-Fouch without success to address these allegations in connection with construction contracts at military bases in Afghanistan." Remarkable that the US government could not find the woman behind this alleged scam. Has it issued an arrest warrant? Checked her home address?

The Coalition statement acknowledges the obvious fact that treating Afghan creditors so shabbily will only strengthen the insurgency and confirm the worst attitudes of Afghans towards foreigners. Perhaps the US Army investigators will understand that fact and deliver some justice to the Afghans who are owed money by Lee's companies.
If anyone has a picture of Ms Lee or can help with any contact details, I would be delighted to offer them to a wider audience.