Fraud of Almost A Million Dollars for Shipping

There are news items that just makes one wonder… ‘what were they thinking?’:

“Aug. 16 (Bloomberg) — A small South Carolina parts supplier collected about $20.5 million over six years from the Pentagon for fraudulent shipping costs, including $998,798 for sending two 19-cent washers to an Army base in Texas, U.S. officials said.”

link: Pentagon Paid $998,798 to Ship Two 19-Cent Washers

Just finding one such fraudulent contractor would pay for a number of Pentagon investigators. A million dollars here and a million dollars there - soon it becomes expensive for the tax payer. Furthermore, nineteen cents for a washer seems a bit steep.