3 Guilty of Padding Bills on Defense Job

Top officials of Super K, one of Southern California’s largest defense subcontractors, were among three men convicted Monday for overbilling the Air Force on the construction of parts for the B-1 bomber.

Joseph Kasparoff of Encino, owner of the Montebello firm, John P. Kasparoff of Newport Beach, its general manager, and Harold C. Geyer of Brea were convicted by a federal jury of conspiracy, felony false claims and making false statements to a government agency.

The case stemmed from Super K’s contract with Rockwell International to build about 100 bulkheads for the B-1 at a bid price of $47,000 for each part. The charges were illegally inflated after Super K announced that it would have to work around the clock to make up for defective raw materials supplied by Rockwell, Assistant U.S. Atty. Brian Hennigan said.

Government officials estimate the added charges should have raised the price of each bulkhead only to about $400,000. When a $1.4-million bill came in for one of the bulkheads and $750,000 for another, investigators found evidence of fraudulent billings, Hennigan said. In one case, he said, an employee was listed as working full time on the project when he actually had retired.

The three men face up to 15 years in prison at sentencing June 12.