The following is a list of the Top 30 U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) Prime Contractors in FY 2012 ranked by the total amount of money awarded by DoD only. In fiscal 2012, the Department of Defense has so far awarded a total of $300.1 billion in defense contracts to over 20,000 contractors at home and abroad.
Department of Justice reported a former employee of a U.S. Army contractor and two former U.S. Army staff sergeants pleaded guilty today for their roles in a fraud scheme involving a contract to provide armored vehicles to the U.S. Military in Afghanistan, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.
Raul Borcuta, 34, of Chicago, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Ronald A. Guzman in the Northern District of Illinois to one count of wire fraud. Former U.S. Army Staff Sergeants Zachery Taylor, 42, of Ft. Belvoir, Va., and Jarred Close, 43, of St. Paul, Minn., each pleaded guilty before Judge Guzman to one count of receiving a gratuity.
According to court documents, in February 2010, Borcuta operated a defense contracting firm in Farah Province, Afghanistan, and Taylor and Close were U.S. Army staff sergeants assigned to a Provincial Reconstruction Team in Afghanistan.
A Provincial Reconstruction Team is a multi-agency civil affairs task force charged with awarding and administering development contracts. Taylor and Close awarded Borcuta a $200,000 contract to provide the U.S. military with two armored vehicles to be used by the governor of Farah Province, who had received death threats from Taliban insurgents. According to court documents, Taylor and Close authorized a $200,000 payment to Borcuta before he delivered the vehicles. Borcuta collected the payment, paid Taylor and Close $10,000 each, and failed to deliver the vehicles.
At sentencing, Borcuta faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, and Taylor and Close each face up to two years in prison. Borcuta is scheduled to be sentenced on April 2, 2013. Taylor and Close are scheduled to be sentenced on April 3, 2013.
This case is being prosecuted by Brian R. Young and Thomas B.W. Hall of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section, with assistance from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois and Heather Schmidt of the National Security Division’s Counterespionage Section. The case was investigated by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division and the FBI. www.justice.gov
MAKS Inc. General Trading and Contracting Co. filed suit in U.S. District Court against EOD Technology, a firm based in Lenoir City that has done extensive work in Afghanistan and Iraq.
In October, EODT announced a merger with a Virginia firm called Sterling International view post. While still based in Lenoir City, the company is now called Sterling Global Operations.
The lawsuit centered on actions that took place during October 2009. MAKS was working as a subcontractor for EODT, which had been hired to provide relocatable buildings for the U.S. military's use at Bagram Air Field in Afghanistan. EODT had also agreed to provide security for MAKS in Afghanistan.
In its suit, MAKS alleged that EODT employees staged a military-style raid on a MAKS compound and stole dozens of building modules from the company.
EODT filed its own countersuit and argued that MAKS had failed to meet the terms of its contract and that EODT was justified in terminating the subcontract and taking possession of the modules in question.
On December 3, 2012, the jury awarded nearly $2 million to MAKS in connection with three breach-of-contract claims and $1 million on a conversion claim. One breach-of-contract claim referred to items that were also referenced in the conversion claim, and EODT has taken the position that MAKS must choose between that $975,000 breach-of-contract award and the $1 million conversion award. Joseph Hennessey, an attorney for MAKS, said the jury found EODT liable for both.
The jury rejected claims that EODT employees committed assault against two individuals. The jury rejected the breach-of-contract counterclaim filed by EODT against MAKS. Hennesseey said Monday that his clients were "grateful that the justice system was able to take an objective look at the facts and that the jury looked at all of the claims in detail and weighed the evidence and reached the just result based on the facts they heard."
In a prepared statement, EODT general counsel Erik Quist said the company was disappointed in the verdict because it maintains EODT did not breach its contract with MAKS. He went on to say that allegations separate from the contractual claims had been dismissed. "EODT has maintained all along that the allegations of assault and personal injury were meant only to harass and intimidate, and the jury agreed, finding no truth whatsoever in these allegations," he said.
#29 Honeywell International Inc.
#25 Computer Science Corporation
#9 Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc.
#5 Northrop Grumman Corporation
