Faulty Fasteners Involved in U.S. Government Fraud Case

John Wolz

A marine repair company that installed faulty fasteners on aircraft carrier steam pipes is among companies listed as having defrauded the U.S. government and jeopardized American lives but received new government work despite rulings designed to stop them from receiving federal contracts, the Associated Press reported.

The Navy suspended Tecnico Corp. of Chesapeake, VA, in April 2006 after discovering the company was using faulty fasteners on the USS John F. Kennedy. A ruptured steam pipe could cause fatal burns. Tecnico vice president Richard Freeman declined to comment to the AP.

In other examples, AP reporter Larry Margasak found that payments went to a company whose president tried to sell nuclear bomb parts to North Korea.

The government maintains a database of 70,000 individuals and businesses prohibited by U.S. agencies from receiving government contracts.

The Government Accountability Office blamed some mistakes on computer searches, which left out commas or periods. But the GAO also found the search engine for often failed to identify entries on the exclusion list.

GAO investigators discovered companies used such tactics as fictitious Social Security numbers, false filings with the Securities & Exchange Commission and insider information to bid on federal contracts. �2009 FastenerNews.com