POINT MUGU : Fraud Investigators Receive More Names

Officials sifting through the Point Mugu Naval Air Weapons Station purchasing fraud case were given new names to investigate on Monday, including that of a retired Ventura County sheriff’s lieutenant.

The disclosures were made in federal court in Los Angeles as three defendants pleaded guilty to charges stemming from the fraud scheme.

Pleading guilty before U. S. District Judge William M. Byrne Jr. were:

* Joseph Martin Vach, 50, of Camarillo, a civilian planner and controller in the public works section of the base between 1977 and 1988.

* Gary Dale Roberson, 39, of Oxnard, who worked in the base’s public works section between 1988 and this year.

* Charles Beckman, 43, an off-base supplier to the base between 1984 and 1989.

The three--plus three others--have pleaded guilty to participating in a criminal conspiracy involving bribes, kickbacks, bid rigging and the creation of bogus companies between 1984 and 1989. The products involved in the fraud scheme included electrical and plumbing supplies, authorities said.

Vach told the court that when he began his employment at the Navy base in 1970, the scheme already was in place. He named three civilian employees at the base--one a supervisor who is still there--as participating in the conspiracy. None of the three has been charged with wrongdoing.

Vach and Roberson then named a retired sheriff’s lieutenant, a Ventura supply house and a Ventura County vendor as having roles in the scheme. None of these parties has been charged with wrongdoing, either.

An executive with the Ventura supply house named by Vach and Roberson said his firm had been doing business with the Navy base since 1965. He said he knew of no illegal deals with the base. “We keep it straight,” he said.

Vach and Roberson pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud Point Mugu, mail fraud, corrupt receipt of bribes and subscribing to a false income tax return. They each face maximum sentences of 28 years in prison and fines of $1 million each.

Beckman pleaded guilty to the same charges with the exception of the bribe count. The three defendants are scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 30.