Ex-Rockwell Executive Admits Bilking Air Force

A former executive for Rockwell International Corp. pleaded guilty Monday to charges that he schemed to double-bill the Air Force by nearly $450,000 on contracts for a satellite navigational system.

Robert L. Zavodnik, 46, of Fountain Valley, a former material subcontractor manager at Rockwell’s space division in Seal Beach, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to make false statements and one count of making false statements.

Zavodnik’s former supervisor, Donald Carter, faces trial along with the giant aerospace firm next month on charges that he and Zavodnik obtained secret reimbursement from a subcontractor for unexpected repair costs on the $1.2-billion NAVSTAR global positioning project, and then billed the U.S. government for the same costs--$446,283.

The charges, contained in a 25-count Los Angeles federal grand jury indictment issued last January, allege that the defendants also misled government auditors looking into discrepancies in the billings.

The indictment also sought to have the company held in criminal contempt for violating a 1982 injunction prohibiting the firm from submitting false claims to the government. The order had been issued in response to a government suit accusing Rockwell of fraudulently shifting costs to the space shuttle program.

Prosecutors charged that the alleged fraudulent activities began nine days after a federal judge issued the 1982 injunction.

A Rockwell spokesman, Jeffrey Charney, said the firm “offered the government a full contract adjustment” and that it “intends to continue to defend itself vigorously against the government’s charges.”

Moreover, Charney, reading a company statement, said “the government’s indictment is based entirely on evidence that Rockwell discovered and voluntarily disclosed to the government.”

Zavodnik was fired in October, 1986.

Carter, 59, of Downey, was removed from management status in the fall of 1986, suspended last January and subsequently resigned.

George Newhouse, an assistant U.S. attorney, said there was “no evidence (that Zavodnik) intended to benefit personally” from his actions.

The NAVSTAR system is designed to send navigational directions to ground troops and to military and civilian planes and ships. Rockwell has been building global positioning-system satellites for the Air Force since 1974.

Zavodnik faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $500,000 fine when he is sentenced Nov. 28 by U.S. District Judge Consuelo Marshall.