Engineered Support Systems Inc

Regulators sued former Engineered Support Systems Inc. Chief Executive Michael Shanahan, alleging that he colluded in backdating stock options. Shanahan, 67, reaped compensation of more than $8.9 million and thus was the top beneficiary of the fraudulent backdating of options at the St. Louis-based defense contractor from 1997 through 2002, the Securities and Exchange Commission said Thursday. The agency's lawsuit also targets Shanahan's son, Michael Shanahan Jr.

As President Bush embarks on a new effort to shore up public support for the war in Iraq, an uncle of the commander in chief is collecting $2.7 million in cash and stock from the recent sale of a company that profited from the war. A report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission shows that William H.T. Bush collected just under $1.9 million in cash plus stock valued at more than $800,000 from the sale of Engineered Support Systems Inc. to DRS Technologies of New Jersey. The $1.

Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Los Angeles) asked the Pentagon on Wednesday to release details of a $47-million Air Force contract that an inspector general's report has found was awarded improperly. In a letter to Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, Waxman cited the March 3 report, which says the no-bid contract to a subsidiary of Engineered Support Systems Inc., or ESSI, came as a result of intervention by Darlene A. Druyun.

The Iraq war helped bring record earnings to St. Louis-based defense contractor Engineered Support Systems Inc., and new financial data show that the firm's war-related profits have trickled down to a familiar family name -- Bush. William H.T. "Bucky" Bush, uncle of the president and youngest brother of former President George H.W. Bush, cashed in ESSI stock options last month with a net value of nearly half a million dollars.

U.S. Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Los Angeles) has asked Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld to provide details on a series of contracts awarded to a St. Louis company that has an uncle of President Bush on its board of directors. In a letter sent to Rumsfeld on Thursday, Waxman asked for copies of all military contracts awarded to Engineered Support Systems Inc. and a briefing on the process used to award those pacts. William H.T.