WASHINGTON, June 25 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The United States has
intervened in a whistleblower suit accusing Alliant Techsystems Inc., aka
ATK Thiokol Inc. (ATK), of delivering defective illumination flares used in
critical search and rescue and combat operations to the U.S. military,
including operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Justice Department
announced today.
The suit was filed in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City by former
ATK employee Kendall Dye, under the 'qui tam' provisions of the False
Claims Act. Under those provisions, a private party, known as a
whistleblower or relator, can file an action on behalf of the United States
and receive a portion of the recovery. Under the False Claims Act, the
United States may recover three times the amount of its losses plus civil
penalties.
The whistleblower's complaint, which the United States has now joined,
alleges that ATK violated the False Claims Act from as early as May 2000 by
deliberately disregarding information that a newly redesigned ignitor for
the LUU-2 and LUU-19 series flare was flawed and might not pass a required
"10- foot drop test" safety specification. It's alleged that ATK failed to
perform testing to validate the igniter design to the safety specification
and subsequently received in excess of $100 million for delivery of its
defective LUU series flares to the U.S. Air Force and Army.
In 2005, the U.S. Navy tested a sampling of LUU flares and discovered
that the flares could not safely withstand a 10-foot drop without igniting,
thereby putting personnel and equipment at risk. The United States has
since refused any further deliveries of this defective product.
"Today's action is meant to ensure that the U.S. Armed Forces can have
confidence in the safety of the products they use in their operations."
said Peter D. Keisler, Assistant Attorney General for the Department's
Civil Division.
The investigation of the allegations in the complaint was conducted by
the U.S. Attorney's office in Salt Lake City, the Department's Civil
Division, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, the Defense Contract
Audit Agency, and the Air Force Office of Special Investigations.
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