P.M. BRIEFING : Firm Admits Pentagon Fraud
From Times Wire Services
WASHINGTON —
Emerson Electric Co. pleaded guilty today to making inflated cost estimates for electronic equipment it sold the Pentagon and agreed to pay $14 million in fines and penalties, the Justice Department said.
The company entered the guilty plea to four felony counts of filing false statements in federal court in St. Louis, the department said here.
The company admitted that between 1983 and 1987, it gave false and inflated cost estimates for equipment it sold the Defense Department as a sole-source contractor. As a result of inflated estimates, the government was overcharged for equipment it bought from Emerson, the Justice Department said.
