In an audit by the Justice Department, it was discovered that U.S. taxpayers were billed an average of $45,000  in overtime and extra pay for each FBI agent posted to Iraq between 2003 and 2007.

Dealing with sniper fire and mortar blast might make those amounts seem seriously low-balled, but the Justice Department’s audit found over $7.8 million of those wages were improperly billed.

Several agents noted they’d spent time during the week washing clothes — and they included those hours in their overtime requests. When asked whether agents should be paid for such activities, one agent said, “When you’re in that environment, anything you do to survive is work for the FBI.”

Other agents claimed they should be paid for important “liaison” meetings — which turned out to be regular Saturday night cocktail parties. In another case, dozens of agents claimed they were preparing evidence for Saddam Hussein’s court trial when they were taking part in a massive poker tournament.

The report also noted some misused overtime and extra pay allowances in Afghanistan and with agents in the Drug Enforcement Administration and U.S. Marshals Service, but those cases were far less severe.

Yakima Washington (yes, like the city) claimed that her former boss asked her to run personal errands on several occasions during her employment.

Once Washington let Detroit City Council President Monica Conyers know she intended to file a formal complaint against her, the president responded by swiftly terminating her assistant.

The city council’s Internal Operations Committee originally approved an offer to pay Washington $90,000 through its claims process, but the city soon reneged on the deal. Soon after, Washington sued for breach of contract, and a new proposal was approved by a seven-to-one vote to pay Washington a $90,000 settlement.

Deborah Smith, former night manager of the SkyWater restaurant in the posh Hilton Minneapolis, claims she was retaliated against after she witnessed hotel executives having an orgy in a banquet hall. Following the event, Smith said the hotel’s personnel department offered no help.

After that, “a campaign of harassment and retaliation ensued,” claims Smith. A veteran employee of the hotel, Smith was often praised for her job performance and received several raises. She was also a go-to trainer for many of the establishment’s new employees.

But after seeing executives and other managers performing the act on company grounds, a fellow manager said she would be fired, and that he “would be sure of it.”

Smith, along with a cocktail server and bartender, is suing for sexual discrimination and harassment, as well as for retaliation against her complaints. Her suit hasn’t set a dollar figure yet, but Smith claims she was damaged in excess of $50,000.

If your company every comes across Jarek Molski, you might want to speak to a lawyer, pronto. Injured in a motorcycle accident nearly two decades ago, Molski has figured out the best way to take advantage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). According to California legal records, he’s filed 400 suits against businesses that don’t follow disability-access rules to the letter.

Because he’s confined to a wheelchair, Molski sues — and usually collects from — business that aren’t up to code. The fines for violating the ADA can run nearly $4,000 a day, and business owners can choose to pay the fines, pay for renovations to get their establishments up to code or settle out of court with Molski.

A federal judge has banned Molski from filing any lawsuits in the Central District of California, but that doesn’t mean his spree is over — he’s free to press his luck anywhere else in the U.S.

Thought business was tough, no matter what industry you’re in? Not for these corporate spenders.

Days after the Seattle-based Starbucks Coffee Co. informed employees it was reconsidering how much it will match in their 401(k) plans in 2009, executives have just purchased a $45 million corporate jet — the third in the business’s fleet.

Starbucks ordered the Gulfstream 550 jet three years ago, but determined that canceling delivery of it would be too expensive. At the $45 million price tag the company locked in when it ordered the plane, it would cost $5 million to cancel the contract. The company would also lose any payments it had already made on the jet.

The Gulfstream’s maiden voyage was to Hawaii, where it spent two weeks before returning state-side. Company officials refuse to disclose who took the trip, but insisted that it was a combined business and personal trip. (Starbucks policy requires employees to reimburse personal use of the jet.)

Starbucks officials claim the jet is vital to the company’s business. Even though employees usually take commercials flights, a company spokesperson claimed: “In some instances, it makes more sense, from a time and economic standpoint, to use the corporate plane.”

Some good news about the jet: Starbucks won’t need to shell out extra for coffee-makers. The jet’s kitchen comes standard with them.

Thanks to a new Swedish law, the Tax Agency can now fine parents who fail to give their children names before they are three months old.

Non-compliant parents face a fine of up to $1,200 per violation.

Thomas Norgren of the Agency says, “It’s every child’s right to have a name.” Of course, parents who are slow to name their children can also cause a paperwork delay on the Agency’s side of things, so the fines might not be entirely for the childrens’ sake.

Norgren also said the agency is currently focusing on the parents of 400 nameless children, but odds are good there are many more offenders in the country.

In what’s being touted as one of the biggest heists ever, the New York Daily News reportedly “stole” the Empire State Building after 90 minutes of paperwork. Reporters drew up fake documents, created a forged notary stamp and successfully took over ownership of the $2 billion landmark.

Performed as a demonstration that the city’s clerks aren’t spending enough time verifying information, the newspaper transferred ownership of the 102-story building from Empire State Land Associated to Nelots Properties, LCC (“nelots” is “stolen” spelled backwards).

As if that weren’t absurd enough, reporters also used bogus names on the new deed’s paperwork. Fay Wray, star of the original “King Kong” film, was listed as a witness, and the infamous robber Willie Sutton was listed as the notary.

A day after the fake deed was honored, the newspaper returned the building to its rightful owners.

Soon after coming under fire for spending $440,000 on an executive retreat, the folks at AIG have learned they shouldn’t be spending so lavishly — at least, not in the public eye.

Hidden cameras at the Pointe Hilton Squaw Peak Resort in Phoenix recently caught AIG execs poolside and at the spa. One difference this time: The company made significant efforts to disguise the conference by hiding logos, signs and even operating under a pseudonym.

So far, the cost of the conference is estimated at $343,000 — which is at least lower than the company’s last outing — but AIG claims most of those expenses will be recouped from product sponsors at the event.

When Chicago officials signed a policy which outlawed driving while gabbing on cell phones, it seemed like a good way to improve vehicle safety and reduce accidents city-wide. Any motorists caught violating the law have their licenses confiscated.

But when city Alderman Tom Tunney was pulled over last year for violating the law he helped put into effect, he pulled a power card. After returning to his office — sans-license — Tunney called Town Hall District Commander Gary Yamashiroya and asked why officers in “an understaffed police district were assigned to pull people over solely for cell phone violations.”

Yamashiroya quickly ordered an officer to return the confiscated license to the alderman’s office.

After an in-depth investigation by Chicago P.D.’s Internal Affairs Division, both Yamashiroya and Tunney were cleared of any wrong-doing. Soon after, Mayor Richard Daley introduced a new ordinance that altered the cell phone rule. Distracted motorists would still receive a ticket for the violation, but they’d be able to hang onto their licenses and contest the tickets by mail or an administrative hearing.

When six Greenpeace activists caused nearly $50,000 in damage to a British coal-fired power station, many expected they’d be held monetarily responsible for the criminal activities.

But at trial, jurors accepted the defense’s argument that the protesters have a “lawful excuse to damage property” at the station because it would prevent even greater damage caused by climate change. The “lawful excuse” was first brought up in England’s Criminal Damage Act of 1971, which allowed damage to be caused to property to prevent even greater damage somewhere else — in situations like breaking down the door of a burning house to extinguish a fire.

The activists painted the name of government official on the side of the facility’s chimney. Plans to open another coal-fired station are in the works, but government officials and protesters are fighting on both sides of the argument.