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Subcontractors involved in a multi-billion dollar decontamination effort on the infamous Hanford nuclear site have been accused of defrauding US taxpayers, according to a lawsuit filed against Mission Support Alliance and Lockheed Martin.
MSA has signed a $ 3.2 billion, 10-year contract with the Department of Energy (DOE) to support the decontamination efforts of the disused nuclear generation complex known as the Hanford site. Authorized to choose, at its discretion, subcontractors for the country's largest and most expensive environmental clean-up, MSA abused its authority and badigned "Inappropriate favorable treatment" for bribes, the Justice Department has claimed this week.
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The lawsuit alleges that Lockheed Martin Corporation (LMC) and Lockheed Martin Services Inc. (SIMA) paid more than $ 1 million to the executives of MSA, a convenient co-owner of another Lockheed subsidiary at the time, to guarantee a capital of 232 million dollars. outsourcing to provide management and technology support to the Washington State nuclear site from 2010 to 2016.
Services were provided to "Inflated rates" and in some cases, the energy department was even billed twice, both by MSA and by Lockheed, for the same job. In addition, the lawsuit charges Jorge Francisco Armijo, who was both vice president of LMC and president of MSA, for abusing his authority to obtain financial gain through his duties performed simultaneously.
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"If Congress has allocated funds for specific purposes, we will not tolerate the illegal behavior of subcontractors seeking to increase their profits at the expense of taxpayers", said Deputy Attorney General Jody Hunt of the Civil Division of the Department of Justice.
Lockheed immediately denied allegations of involvement in the bribery scheme, rejecting any idea that the "Company or its directors have engaged in wrongdoing." MSA also dismissed the charges, saying the company "Stands behind" their employees.
The former 586 km² nuclear research facility was used to produce plutonium for the Manhattan Project nuclear bomb. After more than four decades of nuclear fuel production, the site was shut down in 1987, requiring thorough cleaning of the solid and liquid wastes left by weapons manufacturing processes.
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