-Caveat Lector- Feds Allege Fraud by Navy Contractor WASHINGTON (AP) - Government agents posing as ship repair subcontractors have uncovered major fraud by several employees of a management company charged with overseeing repairs of Navy ships, officials say. Bribes and kickbacks allegedly accepted by some employees of Bayship Management Inc. of Englewood Cliffs, N.J., included dinners, golf outings, country club memberships and trips from subcontractors that were later billed to the government as part of the contract price, officials said Thursday. Bayship had been awarded a $200 million government contract to maintain the ships. Four former Bayship employees were charged in criminal bills of information last week in Texas. Charges include fraud and kickbacks. Two other Bayship employees were charged earlier. To date, the four-year investigation has netted charges against 21 people, from Jacksonville, Fla., to Boston and San Francisco, and two companies working as subcontractors. Federal authorities say the investigation continues and more charges are likely. ``This case is an egregious example of corruption within a Department of Defense program that has undermined the procurement process, cost the American taxpayers a significant amount of money and eroded the trust and confidence of the public in the operation of the government,'' said John F. Keenan, director of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, the investigative arm of the Defense Department's inspector general. The focus of the investigation was alleged fraud in a $200 million contract Bayship had with the Military Sealift Command for maintenance and repairs of eight Navy ships. Bayship was responsible for soliciting subcontractors to do the work. After receiving reports of the allegations in 1994, federal agents set up an undercover subcontracting business known as Coastal Marine Engineering Group that eventually operated in Houston, Jacksonville, New Orleans, Norfolk, Va., and San Francisco. During the probe, more than 27 agents had undercover roles and made more than 3,000 telephone and body recordings, officials said. Dozens of meetings between the undercover agents and subjects were videotaped, they said. Officials said the investigation revealed that Bayship employees directed the undercover agents to fraudulently inflate the dollar amounts of contracts to cover gratuities provided to them by Coastal Marine Engineering Group. On some occasions, fraudulent contracts were allegedly issued to reimburse the undercover business for cash given to Bayship employees. The investigation also uncovered the use of ``complementary'' bids in the awarding of repair contracts. In this practice, certain subcontractors were allegedly instructed to submit bids higher than a favored vendor so it would appear that the competitive bid process was followed. Authorities said that on many occasions the Bayship employees recorded the undercover company as a bidder on a job when, in fact, no bid was ever submitted. DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
