Kuwaiti logistics firm Agility said on Wednesday a court hearing for its US fraud case has been scheduled for January 8.

In November, a US grand jury indicted Agility on charges of fraud and conspiracy alleging it overcharged the US Army on $8.5 billion worth of contracts to provide food to soldiers in Iraq, Kuwait and Jordan.

Agility, which supplies food to US soldiers in Iraq and Kuwait, said it had been temporarily suspended, but not debarred, from new US government contracts pending the outcome of the grand jury indictment.

If convicted of violations of the False Claims Act, the company faces probation and a fine of up to twice the gain it realised or twice the loss to the United States.

Last week, Agility said it was in talks with the US
government regarding a settlement in the fraud case, but no deal has been reached yet.

Agility announced in December that US defence contractor DynCorp International had dropped its US unit as a subcontractor in a US Army deal.

The company said it was looking at legal options over DynCorp International's decision to drop Agility Defense and Government Services as a subcontractor as of December 17.

Agility's shares plunged about 44 percent since November 16 after the firm was indicted by a US grand jury. - Reuters