Kickback Schemers Offer Guilty Plea

Sat., Jan. 25, 1997

Compiled From Wire Services

Twenty individuals and companies pleaded guilty to trying to defraud Boeing Co. and Learjet Inc. in a kickback scheme that may have cost the plane makers millions of dollars.

An unidentified airplane parts buyer offered to accept inflated bids from subcontractors in return for kickbacks from 1994 to 1996. Most of the fraudulent bids were for government contracts, U.S. Attorney Jackie Williams said Thursday.

The individuals and companies that pleaded guilty Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Wichita were from Kansas, Maryland, California and Oklahoma. They were charged with mail fraud, wire fraud and theft of defense material being constructed for the United States.

If convicted, the defendants face up to $500,000 in fines and one to five years in federal prison on each of the counts. Federal prosecutors are recommending a total of $2.5 million in fines.

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Kickback Schemers Offer Guilty Plea

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