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George B. Wolfe was born and raised in Columbia, South Carolina. In December 2023, he retired as a partner in the law firm of Nelson Mullins in Columbia, South Carolina. His practice was focused on representing foreign and domestic companies establishing or expanding operations in South Carolina.
Wolfe began his career in 1977 at the law firm of Wilmer, Cutler and Pickering (now known as Wilmer Hale) in Washington, DC. In 1983, Wolfe returned to his hometown of Columbia, South Carolina and joined Nelson Mullins and has practiced there since that time with the exception of 2001–2004, when he worked at the U.S. Treasury Department. From 1989 to 1993, Mr. Wolfe served as a member of the Investment Policy Advisory Committee (INPAC) to the United States Trade Representative under President George H.W. Bush. From 2001 to 2004, Wolfe served as deputy general counsel and counselor to the secretary for the Department of the Treasury. [1] During this time, he also served two tours in Iraq (2003–2004) as part of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), [2] where he worked on Iraq's financial reconstruction. After leaving the Treasury Department in 2004, Mr. Wolfe served as the first managing partner of the Nelson Mullins' Washington, DC office before returning to the firm's Columbia office in 2007. Wolfe was an employee of the United States government and worked for the Coalition Provisional Authority in 2003 and 2004. [3] [4] Wolfe sat on the CPA's Program Review Board, the committee that made the final recommendation to CPA Administrator Paul Bremer over the $20 billion of contracts the CPA awarded. [5] For its final three months Wolfe served as the board's chairman. As chair of the board he was also the Senior advisor to the Iraqi Ministry of Finance.
The KPMG audit of the Development Fund for Iraq reports that scheduling a meeting with Administrator Bremer had proven difficult. [6] [7] Then Bremer departed from Iraq early, leaving important loose ends dangling—like—the audit.
The auditors looked to Wolfe, the next most senior financial officer after Bremer for cooperation. [7] However Wolfe:
... was unable to acknowledge the fair presentation of the statement of cash receipts and payments, the completeness of significant contracts entered into by the DFI and responsibilities for the implementation and operations of accounting and internal control systems, designed to prevent and detect fraud and error.
Wolfe left government service in 2004, and returned as a partner in the law firm Nelson Mullins. [4] He retired in December of 2023.
Wolfe graduated cum laude from Washington and Lee University in 1973. In 1977, he received his Juris Doctor from the University of Pennsylvania School of Law where he was a member of the Law Review and Order of the Coif.
Wolfe has served as president of the South Carolina Economic Developers Association and as chair of the Greater Columbia Committee of 100, the South Carolina Bar Corporate, Banking and Securities Law Section, and a South Carolina public-private sector group that created a strategic plan for the economic development of South Carolina. Wolfe has served as a board member for organization such as the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce, [8] the South Carolina Council on Competitiveness, the Greater Columbia Chamber of Commerce, the Columbia World Affairs Council, and the Columbia Film Society.
Wolfe is a recipient of the Order of the Palmetto, the highest civilian award given by a South Carolina Governor. [9] In addition, he received the South Carolina Department of Revenue Lifetime Public Service Award. Wolfe also received the Distinguished Service Award from the U.S. Treasury Department for his service there.
Arthur Andersen was an American accounting firm based in Chicago that provided auditing, tax advising, consulting and other professional services to large corporations. By 2001, it had become one of the world's largest multinational corporations and was one of the "Big Five" accounting firms. The firm collapsed by mid-2002, as details of its questionable accounting practices for energy company Enron and telecommunications company WorldCom were revealed amid the two high-profile bankruptcies. The scandals were a factor in the enactment of the Sarbanes–Oxley Act of 2002.
KPMG International Limited is a multinational professional services network, and one of the Big Four accounting organizations, along with Ernst & Young (EY), Deloitte, and PwC. The name "KPMG" stands for "Klynveld Peat Marwick Goerdeler". The initialism was chosen when KMG merged with Peat Marwick in 1987.
Certified Public Accountant (CPA) is the title of qualified accountants in numerous countries in the English-speaking world. It is generally equivalent to the title of chartered accountant in other English-speaking countries. In the United States, the CPA is a license to provide accounting services to the public. It is awarded by each of the 50 states for practice in that state. Additionally, all states except Hawaii have passed mobility laws to allow CPAs from other states to practice in their state. State licensing requirements vary, but the minimum standard requirements include passing the Uniform Certified Public Accountant Examination, 150 semester units of college education, and one year of accounting-related experience.
The Coalition Provisional Authority was a transitional government of Iraq established following the invasion of the country on 19 March 2003 by the U.S.-led Multinational Force and the fall of Ba'athist Iraq.
Lewis Paul Bremer III is an American diplomat. He was the de facto head of state of Iraq as leader of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) following the 2003 invasion of Iraq by the United States, from May 2003 until June 2004.
The Iraqi Governing Council (IGC) was the provisional government of Iraq from 13 July 2003 to 1 June 2004. It was established by and served under the United States-led Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA). The IGC consisted of various Iraqi political and tribal leaders who were appointed by the CPA to provide advice and leadership of the country until the June 2004 transfer of sovereignty to the Iraqi Interim Government.
The Iraqi National Intelligence Service (INIS) is an intelligence agency of the Iraqi government that was created in April 2004 on the transitional authority of the Coalition Provisional Authority, following the American invasion of Iraq a year prior.
In May 2003, following the invasion of Iraq in March of that year, the Central Bank of Iraq-Development Fund for Iraq (DFI) account was created at the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank of New York at the request of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) Administrator. A part of the fund has been transferred to Baghdad and Iraq, and the DFI-Baghdad account was opened at the Central Bank of Iraq "for cash payment requirements". The fund also eventually received money from seized and "vested" Iraqi bank accounts and funds seized by coalition forces. $650 million of this amount belongs to Uday Saddam Hussein, the older son of the former Iraqi president. The DFI have been disbursed mainly for "the wheat purchase program, the currency exchange program, the electricity and oil infrastructure programs, equipment for Iraqis security forces, and for Iraqi civil service salaries and ministry budget operations".
The International Advisory and Monitoring Board was appointed to oversee the Coalition Provisional Authority's disbursements from the humanitarian Development Fund for Iraq. When the CPA was authorized to manage the DFI by United Nations resolution 1483. the CPA was obliged to cooperate with the oversight of the IAMB. The IAMB was composed of senior representatives from the United Nations, the Arab Fund for Social and Economic Development, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank.
The Coalition Provisional Authority Program Review Board was composed of the senior personnel of the Coalition Provisional Authority, charged with the responsibility to review and make recommendations about the awarding of contracts to the administrator of the authority, Paul Bremer.
Stuart W. Bowen Jr., is an American lawyer who served as the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR) from October 2004 to October 2013. He previously served as the Inspector General for the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA-IG), a position to which he was appointed in January 2004. Mr. Bowen's mission includes ensuring effective oversight of the $63 billion appropriated for Iraq's relief and reconstruction.
The Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR) was created as the successor to the Coalition Provisional Authority Office of Inspector General (CPA-IG). SIGIR was an independent government agency created by the Congress to provide oversight of the use of the $52 billion U.S. reconstruction program in Iraq. Stuart W. Bowen Jr. was appointed to the position of CPA-IG on January 20, 2004 and served until its closure in October 2013. Sand served until its closure in October 2013. SIGIR reported directly to Congress, the Secretary of State, and the Secretary of Defense.
The Republic of Iraq's legal system is in a period of transition in light of the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 that led to the fall of the Ba'ath Party. Iraq does have a written constitution, as well as a civil, criminal and personal status law. In September 2008, the Iraqi Legal Database, a comprehensive database that makes all Iraqi positive law freely available to users online, was launched.
Coalition Provisional Authority Order 17 stated that Iraqi laws do not hold over contractors.
Coalition Provisional Authority Order Number 2: Dissolution of Entities signed by Coalition Provisional Authority on 23 May 2003, disbanded the Iraqi military, security, and intelligence infrastructure of President Saddam Hussein. It has since become an object of controversy, cited by some critics as the biggest American mistake made in the immediate aftermath of the fall of Saddam Hussein and as one of the main causes of the rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/ISIS).
Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP is a U.S. law firm and lobby group based in Columbia, South Carolina. Nelson Mullins has over 1000 attorneys, policy advisors, and professionals across 33 offices serving clients in more than 100 practice areas. In 2023, the American Lawyer ranked the firm as the 68th largest law firm in the nation based on 2022 gross revenue. It is the largest law firm in South Carolina by number lawyers.
The 100 Orders are "binding instructions or directives to the Iraqi people that create penal consequences or have a direct bearing on the way Iraqis are regulated, including changes to Iraqi law" created in early 2004 by Paul Bremer under the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq. The orders called for the de-Baathification of Iraq as well as extensive economic changes. Most of the economic changes are focused on transitioning the economy of Iraq from a centrally planned economy to a market economy, as outlined in the contract by BearingPoint:
Economic reform in Iraq describes decisions by the Coalition Provisional Authority to dramatically change the economy of Iraq in the aftermath of the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.
De-Ba'athification refers to a policy undertaken in Iraq by the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) and subsequent Iraqi governments to remove the Ba'ath Party's influence in the new Iraqi political system after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. It was considered by the CPA to be Iraq's equivalent to Germany's denazification after World War II. It was first outlined in CPA Order 1 which entered into force on 16 May 2003. The order declared that all public sector employees affiliated with the Ba'ath Party were to be removed from their positions and to be banned from any future employment in the public sector.
Patrick Henry Nelson II was born in Camden, South Carolina to General Patrick Henry Nelson, of the Confederate States Army, and Emma Sarah Cantey. After attending The University of the South, Nelson went to study law with Judge Joseph B. Kershaw in Camden, S.C. in 1875. In 1877 he was admitted to the bar and went to practice with General John D. Kennedy of Camden. He then moved his practice to Columbia, South Carolina, and in 1885 he was elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives and served until 1887. Nelson became the Fifth Circuit Solicitor and the President of the South Carolina Bar Association (1911-1912). After the growth of his own firm, Nelson's son, William Shannon Nelson (1881-1939) joined the firm with his father. Ultimately William's son, Patrick Henry Nelson III (1910-1964), would come to run the law firm and continue its tremendous growth.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link){{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)The CPA Senior Advisor to the Ministry of Finance, who is also the Chairman of the Program Review Board (PRB), was unable to acknowledge the fair presentation of the statement of cash receipts and payments, the completeness of significant contracts entered into by the DFI and his responsibilities for the implementation and operations of accounting and internal controls systems, designed to prevent and detect fraud and error.
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