U.S. Accuses Singer, Former Unit of Fraud
Singer Co. and a former subsidiary were accused by the government Tuesday in a $231-million lawsuit of fraudulently inflating the price of military aircraft flight simulators.
The suit, filed by the Justice Department, charged that Singer Co. and Link Flight Simulation Corp. fabricated higher cost estimates to offset price concessions that they might be forced to make during contract negotiations with the Defense Department.
The action was taken in a False Claims Act lawsuit originally filed under seal last fall in U.S. District Court in Baltimore by Christopher Urda, a former Link Flight price administrator.
One of the Largest
Under the Civil War-era False Claims Act, private citizens may sue on behalf of the government if they suspect fraud. The government is empowered to take over the case if it determines that the original claims have merit.
Justice Department spokeswoman Amy Brown said the $231 million claimed by the government made the case one of the largest suits brought under the False Claims Act.
The government’s complaint alleges price fraud on seven contracts between 1983 and 1986 on flight simulators and related projects. Link Flight had received a sole-source, fixed-price contract to produce the $1-million devices for the Pentagon. The simulators are used to train pilots to fly Cobra, Apache, Blackhawk, Chinook helicopters, F-4 and F-16 fighters and B-52 bombers.
The government claimed that it lost $77 million as a result of the alleged fraud and sought treble damages under the law.
Singer was acquired in 1987 by corporate raider Paul Bilzerian’s Singer Acquisition Co. Last year, Link Flight, based in Binghamton, N.Y., was sold to CAF Industries, a Canadian company which renamed it CAF Link Corp.
