As allegations of bribery and rumors of a DOJ investigation continue to plague BAE Systems, former partner Saab AB has publicly defended its own practices and has (wisely) distanced itself from the international arms dealer. The two companies partnered in a 1999 deal to supply 28 JAS Gripen fighters to South Africa – one of [...]

According to the UK paper, The Guardian, the US DOJ is on the verge of opening a massive corruption investigation into the international military supply company, BAE. In particular is a focus on an alleged £1bn arms deal payments to Prince Bandar of Saudi Arabia in possible violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). [...]

Baker Hughes, the oilfield services company based in Houston, has agreed to pay $44 million to settle SEC and DOJ’s charges over violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). Under the settlement, Baker Hughes subsidiary BHSI pleaded guilty to violations of the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA, conspiracy to violate the FCPA, and aiding [...]

China provides our blog with tons of news. There is always a fresh story about how everybody embraces bribery and fraud; followed by a fresh story about the government trying to crack down on corruption. The latest is last week’s announcement by (try and say in one breath!): The Central Committee for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) [...]

ITT Corp. pled guilty to a criminal violation of the Arms Export Control Act (AECA) for illegally exporting night-vision technology to China and other countries. As part of the plea, the company agreed to pay $100 million in fines. The U.S. Department of Justice said the penalty is believed to be the largest fine of [...]

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decided that information obtained from the government through public means may form the basis of a False Claims Act complaint. The decision widens the definition of a whistleblower, or relator, and makes it easier for non-governmental employees to sue government contractors for fraud. Patricia Haight, an animal activist [...]

Freddie Mac has agreed to pay a record $3.8 million fines to settle allegations that it made illegal campaign contributions. The fine is by far the biggest ever levied by the Federal Election Commission. Freddie Mac was accused of illegally using corporate resources between 2000 and 2003 for 85 fundraisers that collected about $1.7 million [...]

The federal government settled charges with Honeywell that it failed to properly test packaging for sensitive parts used by the Defense Department and NASA. Honeywell was accused of violating the False Claims Act in testing of electrostatic protective metallic sheets that were to package more than 186,000 sensitive parts. Honeywell paid nearly 15 percent of [...]

The president of a California marine products company was charged with conspiring to rig bids and allocate customers in the sale of foam-filled marine fenders and buoys purchased by the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Coast Guard, and other public and private entities. The executive has agreed to plead guilty to the charge, serve jail time [...]

A unit of AT&T Inc. has agreed to pay $2.9 million to settle claims it defrauded the U.S. government over certain fees the company charged between 1998 and 2001. AT&T Communications-East, Inc. had been accused of passing on to government customers’ fees that long-distance telephone companies pay to local carriers for providing facilities that link [...]

General Electric Co. has agreed to pay $11.5 million to settle a False Claims Act lawsuit brought by GE employees who alleged the company sold defective turbine parts. Originally filed by two GE employees at its Madisonville, KY plant in 2000, five additional employees later joined the suit. They alleged that GE covered up defects [...]

San Antonio-based Age Refining falsely certified its compliance with the provisions of the Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone Act of 1997) program in order to entitle the company to a price evaluation preference in connection with bidding for JP-8 jet fuel and other contracts with the Department of Defense. Age Refining has been decertified as [...]

Eagle Global Logistics, subcontractor to Halliburton, has agreed to pay the government $4 million to settle possible claims under the False Claims Act that it inflated invoices for military cargo shipments. EGL was accused of charging a “war risk surcharge” on shipments from Dubai, United Arab Emirates to Iraq between November 2003 and July 2004.

Ace & Co. Inc., manufacturer of fiber optic connectors for Army communication systems and Patriot missile launchers, pleaded guilty to fraud, admitting that it submitted falsified product tests to the Pentagon. Ace faces up to $500,000 in fines and could possibly be prohibited from selling to the Pentagon. The company’s CEO, James E. Stranberg Jr., [...]

The Utah AG’s office has filed an antitrust lawsuit claiming Intelect, Intelli-Site and Power & Telephone Supply Co. conspired to rig bidding on a security and surveillance system for the Central Utah Corrections Facility. Power & Telephone Supply is a reseller of Intelect equipment, and Intelli-Site provides the software to run the Intelect-made networks. The [...]

A district judge in South Dakota has ordered Houston-based NextiraOne , a subsidiary of California-based Platinum Equity to pay $4.6 million in connection with a charge that it defrauded a Federal Communications Commission program that helps poor schools and libraries get discounts on Internet and other telecom goods and services. NextiraOne committed the fraud against [...]

Boeing Co. has tentatively agreed to pay the U.S. government $615 million to settle two high-profile criminal investigations and related civil claims. Boeing accepts responsibility for actions of its employees, but will avoid criminal charges as long as it abides by certain conditions for two years. The deal ends over three years of government investigations [...]

Federal agents raided the National Center for Employment of the Disabled, a nonprofit company in Texas that provides the U.S. Army with combat uniforms and suits used in Iraq to protect soldiers during chemical warfare. The company has received $579.9 million in no-bid defense contracts between 1998 and 2003, according to the Washington- based Center [...]

The federal government settled charges with Honeywell that it failed to properly test packaging for sensitive parts used by the Defense Department and NASA. Honeywell was accused of violating the False Claims Act in testing of electrostatic protective metallic sheets that were to package more than 186,000 sensitive parts. According to protected court documents, Honeywell [...]

Allied Freight Forwarding Inc. has agreed to plead guilty and pay a criminal fine close to $1 million for its role in two distinct bid-rigging conspiracies in connection with a Department of Defense program to transport the household goods of both military and civilian employees. Justice Department officials alleged that Allied conspired with another freight [...]

On January 20th, 2006, the US Sentencing Commission released a set of proposed amendments to the US Sentencing Guidelines in an effort to seek public comment. One of the proposed changes that the Commission was asked to review pertains to the criteria for applying sentencing to business organizations, specifically the portion of its 2004 amendments [...]

As CCR reports, in just the first 3 months of the 2006 fiscal year, the government has already recovered $1 Billion dollars out of the $17 Billion recovered since the False Claims Act amendments in 1986. An overwhelming 80% of all False Claims are within the healthcare industry, an eye opener, as if one were [...]

The defunct U.S.-led agency in charge of Iraq following the 2003 invasion, Coalition Provisional Authority, has been issued a criminal complaint in federal court alleging a ring of corruption and bid rigging in Iraq by American-Romanian businessman, Philip H. Bloom. Bloom allegedly made illegal payments to officials from the coalition’s south-central region for a minimum [...]

Officials of Tyco International have acknowledged that it is the Jack Abramoff client referred to as “Company A” in court documents describing the lobbyist’s scheme to funnel millions of dollars in lobbying fees to himself. Abramoff pled guilty to mail fraud, conspiracy and tax evasion in connection with his lobbying activities and to conspiracy and [...]