What poetic justice. The advertising agency Ogilvy & Mather, creator of the obsequious anti-drug ads for the Office of National Drug Control Policy, have been charged with conspiracy for overbilling the Government:

Thomas Early, the agency's director of finance, and Shona Seifert, who formerly directed Ogilvy's $684-million contract with the government, were accused in U.S. District Court of directing employees to exaggerate their work on the project when they filled out time sheets. They also allegedly caused the company to submit false vouchers to support the inflated labour costs, according to the indictment.

The overbilling occurred as the agency worked on a national media campaign for the Office of the National Drug Control Policy, a branch of the executive office of the U.S. president, the government said. [link via Drug War Rant]

Our previoius thoughts on the ads, in particular, those that played during the Superbowl, are here .

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