US Justice department is investigating Blackwater, the US based security firm, which is presently known as Xe, for bribing the Iraqi officials.

In 2007 after a shooting pay offs were made in hope to secure the contracts which later resulted in expulsion of the company, according to New York Times.

Last year, the US Justice Department’s fraud team opened this inquiry to find out whether the Blackwater employees violated a federal law which bans US corporations from paying bribes to foreign officials.

Iraqi officials were paid up to 1 million dollars in secret by the top officials of Blackwater, says the former employees. The New york times added that only a little portion of it was intended as a compensation for Nisour Square Victims.

In May last year, Xe pulled out of Iraq after the US state department refused to renew its contracts. The bribery investigation has been confirmed by three current and former officials speaking on condition of anonymity, the newspaper said.

The move comes shortly after the US vice-president, Joe Biden, announced that the US government will try to reopen dismissed criminal cases against five former Blackwater employees implicated in the Nisour Square massacre.

In Sept 2007, the guards had been charged with killing 17 unarmed Iraqi civilians and wounding 18 others at the busy Baghdad roundabout.

Victims and Witnesses claim that the officials opened fired on everyone, while on the other hand the suspected officials claimed they acted in self-defence after a convoy they were protecting came under attack.

In December, a US court acquitted the men, saying US justice department prosecutors improperly built their case on sworn statements that had been given under a promise of immunity.