Reputed Leader in Kickback Plot Gets 2 Years

A man believed to be the ringleader of a bribery and kickback scheme involving subcontract work at Hughes Aircraft Co. was sentenced Tuesday in Los Angeles federal court to two years in prison and fined $10,000.

The term imposed on Philip R. Kaiser, 48, of Los Angeles is the stiffest penalty handed out so far as a result of an April 24 federal indictment against 10 men, including eight former employees of Hughes’ El Segundo facility. They were charged as part of a continuing federal investigation into bribes and kickbacks that authorities say have plagued the defense industry for many years.

Three of the 10--former buyers for Hughes--have received prison terms in the last week that ranged from a minimum of six months to a maximum of a year and a day.

Assistant U.S. Atty. Fred D. Heather asked U.S. District Judge Robert M. Takasugi to impose a 10-year prison term on Kaiser because the defendant “had a much more culpable role than the (four) buyers under him” as supervisor of a team involved in awarding subcontracting work at Hughes.

“He actively participated in this coordinated corruption within his department,” Heather said, charging that Kaiser, as ringleader of the operation, wanted to match the $250,000 that a predecessor boasted he made in one year of payoffs.

Kaiser, who pleaded guilty to seven counts of mail fraud and receiving kickbacks on government contracts, was accused of accepting $5,500 in bribes and kickbacks from R. H. Manufacturing of Chatsworth, one subcontractor seeking work from Hughes. Kaiser also received two all-expenses-paid vacations in Europe from the part-owner of the firm, Richard Haskell.

(Haskell paid bribes for work, but eventually got disillusioned when his firm was turned down by Hughes buyers because he refused to offer bribes to them. He went to the FBI, which initiated an investigation that led to the indictment.)

In one instance, Heather said, Kaiser bought a used Camaro Berlinetta automobile for $12,259 and asked Haskell to cover a check that the defendant wrote for the purchase.

If Haskell failed to do so, Kaiser threatened to tell other subcontractors that Haskell “reneged on a promise,” Heather said. Kaiser went elsewhere for the money because Haskell said he could not obtain the funds, Heather said.

Kaiser’s attorney, Larry Flax of Beverly Hills, contended that his client was not the “corrupter” that federal authorities portrayed him to be.

“My client was bought, he didn’t do the buying,” Flax said. “He didn’t corrupt. He just got caught up in an ongoing scheme.”

Flax said the real corrupter in the case was Haskell, who “dangled” money in front of the accused buyers and later got a “free pass” from prosecution in exchange for his help in the FBI probe.

After sentencing, Kaiser left the courtroom without a word.