Military contractor settles False Claims Act suit

A subsidiary company of L-3 Communications Holdings Inc., a military contractor providing services to the Army in Iraq, has paid the U.S. government a substantial sum to settle allegations by the Department of Justice that the contractor’s employees in Iraq had overbilled the government. The subsidiary, Vertex Aerospace, allegedly submitted false and inflated time cards from March 2004 to August 2005 in connection with its helicopter maintenance services performed at Camp Taji, about 60 miles north of Baghdad.

According to a whistleblower lawsuit filed by Barrow County, Ga. Resident Henry Roderigas, a former employee of the contractor, L-3 instructed its Taji employees to take one and a half hours for lunch, but to bill the government for an hour of that time. Although Mr. Roderigas was initially told that the Army had approved the practice, in reality, it had not.

Under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act, Mr. Barrow received a sizable portion of the government’s recovery from the lawsuit. L-3 Communications continues to provide services to the Army in Iraq.

For the full story, go to Market Watch