Government Contracts

Flaws in the development of the newest version of the FA-18 E/F Super Hornet fighter could jeopardize an $8.8-billion Boeing Co. contract to continue early production of the jet, according to a congressional report. The General Accounting Office, the audit arm of Congress, said it identified 84 deficiencies in the FA-18 E/F Super Hornet, the latest version of Boeing's most important military aircraft program.

Felony charges were filed Wednesday against three trash-hauling firms accused by the Los Angeles County district attorney's office of conspiring to eliminate competition and rig bids for large corporate and government contracts. The criminal complaint, filed in Los Angeles Municipal Court, names Athens Disposal Co. Inc. of the City of Industry; Metropolitan Disposal, Montebello, and PJB Disposal, Alhambra. Four officials from Athens Disposal were also charged. They are owners Ronald J.

The article "Pentagon Study on Defense Firm Profits Faces Congress' Scrutiny" (Aug. 8) is another example of the media's continuing negativism toward the defense industry. Why didn't the headline read "Pentagon Study Finds Defense Firm Profits Reasonable"? Sen. William Proxmire's comment regarding "guaranteed" government contracts is misleading. Government contractors all bear the risk that sufficient money will not be appropriated for the program on which they are working. Further, all government contracts provide that the government can cancel the contract at any time for the government's "convenience."

Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. will pay $35 million to settle a lawsuit that claimed the Pasadena firm improperly billed the U.S. government on contracts involving mostly environmental cleanup, the U.S. attorney said. The suit claimed Jacobs made unallowable charges on cost reimbursement contracts with the military, Energy Department, Environmental Protection Agency and NASA. Although it settled, Jacobs denies the allegations.

W. Franklyn Chinn, a former director of the defunct Wedtech Corp., was sentenced in New York to nine months in prison after pleading guilty to filing a false statement with the Small Business Administration. Under the plea agreement, Chinn is expected to be released on parole after serving a third of his term.

When Jay Garner arrived as the first U.S. administrator in Iraq after the 2003 invasion, he chose a highly decorated Air Force colonel named Kimberly D. Olson as his right arm because he considered her among the best America had to offer. One of the first female pilots in the Air Force, she was a hard-charger with an unblemished reputation for honesty, a high profile in the Pentagon and a commitment to the U.S. goal of creating a democracy in the Middle East.

Female business owners will be in Washington asking Congress to send more government contracts their way, as leaders of the Women's Economic Summit unveil their action plan for women's economic development. The plan--a collaboration among major women's organizations, small-business owners, academics and business leaders--calls for more contracting opportunities, training and financing for the nation's women-owned businesses.

A Beverly Hills financial firm and its founder pleaded guilty to federal criminal charges that they defrauded government agencies by steering investment contracts to firms that paid them kickbacks. David Rubin, 50, and his company, CDR Financial Products Inc., were accused of running sham auctions for government agencies looking to invest money raised through municipal bond offerings. The contracts were awarded to favored firms that secretly paid kickbacks to CDR, not always the firm offering the highest returns, the government alleged.