Us Department Of Justice Official Release - 03251-649 Txt

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 1994

CIV (202) 616-2765 TDD (202) 514-1888

TELEDYNE SETTLES DEFENSE FRAUD CASE FOR $850,000 WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Teledyne Industries Inc., a major military contractor, will pay the United States $850,000 to settle claims it failed to provide the Defense Department with full information on Army, Navy and Air Force contracts, the Department of Justice said today. Assistant Attorney General Frank Hunger of the Civil Division said the settlement resolves a suit filed by Taxpayers Against Fraud under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles. Under the agreement, Teledyne will pay TAF $100,000 for legal fees, costs and expenses. TAF also will receive $170,000 as its share of the settlement proceeds. The court unsealed the complaint November 4. The Department said a government investigation found that Teledyne failed to disclose to DOD that it was using equipment already in stock when providing pricing data for Army, Navy and Air Force contracts at its Newbury Park, California, facility from 1987 through 1991. The equipment in stock was less than the proposed market price which Teledyne charged the government. The investigation also determined that Teledyne failed to disclose current, accurate and complete pricing information on orders for interrogator/transponders, instruments the military uses to identify friendly or unfriendly aircraft, for the Navy's E-2C aircraft in 1991. Teledyne did not tell the government that the project would require less hours of labor than it originally proposed. The Truth in Negotiation Act required Teledyne to provide the information to government negotiators. The case was investigated by the Defense Criminal Investigative Service's Van Nuys, California, office; the Air Force's Office of Special Investigation at Los Angeles Air Force Base; the FBI's Ventura, California, office; the Naval Criminal Investigative Service's Regional Fraud Unit at Upland, California; and the Army's Criminal Investigative Command's Fraud Field Office at Laguna Niguel, California. Audit support was provided by the Defense Contract Audit Agency's Oxnard, California, office. Under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act, a private organization such as TAF can sue on behalf of the United States and share in any recovery. ##### 94-649