Aircraft maker Lockheed Martin has agreed to pay $10.28 million to settle a federal claim of fraud at its Marietta, Ga., factory, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Atlanta.
The government alleged that Lockheed Martin inflated costs between 1996 and 2000 in contracts performed for the U.S. Air Force and Navy.
According to the release, Lockheed Martin and Alenia Aerospazio, an Italian aerospace company, had partnered to develop an aircraft designated as the “C27J,” a light/medium tactical transport aircraft. Lockheed charged business development, proposal and other selling costs of the commercial contract to cost accounts that were charged to government contracts, the release stated.
“Taxpayers have a right to expect defense contractors, like Lockheed Martin, to follow the rules and not to pass onto the government costs that should have been charged to their commercial ventures,” said Tony West, assistant attorney general for the Civil Division.