ATLANTA, Nov 16 (Reuters) - A U.S. grand jury indicted a Kuwaiti company on Monday for fraud and conspiracy for allegedly overcharging the U.S. Army on $8.5 billion worth of contracts to supply food to soldiers in Iraq, Kuwait and Jordan.

The grand jury in Atlanta indicted logistics firm Public Warehousing Company, K.S.C. (PWC) on multiple charges of fraud and conspiracy in connection with contracts issued by the Department of Defense between 2003 and 2005.

The charges stem from a probe into abuses in vendor contracts in the Middle East that involve the illegal inflation of prices, said Gentry Shelnutt, acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia.

"The indictment alleges PWC submitted false information and manipulated prices to overcharge for food," Shelnutt said.

"This indictment is only the first step. Our investigation of entities and persons who have defrauded the United States and our military is ongoing," Shelnutt said.

(Reporting by Matthew Bigg; Editing by Paul Simao)

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