The New York Times, which broke the story, reports that court documents show that investigators have subpoenaed the bank records of Colonel Anthony Bell, now retired from the US Army, but who headed reconstruction contracting in Iraq in 2003-2004.

Two federal officials involved in the inquiry told the newspaper that the activities of US Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Ronald Hirtle, who was a senior contracting officer in Baghdad in 2004, are also being examined.

“It is not clear what specific evidence exists against the two men, and both said they had nothing to hide from investigators,” notes the article.

The inquiry is looking again at information supplied by Dale Stoffel, an American arms dealer and contractor who was killed in Iraq in 2004, said the New York Times.

A former business associate told the newspaper that Stoffel described how “Fifty thousand dollars [were] delivered in pizza boxes to secure contracts”.

“The reconstruction effort, intended to improve services and convince Iraqis of American good will, largely managed to do neither. The wider investigation raises the question of whether American corruption was a primary factor in damaging an effort whose failures have been ascribed to poor planning and unforeseen violence,” writes the article.