The Federal Bureau of investigation (Federal Bureau of Investigation) and the U.S. Department of justice (U. S. Department of Justice) issued a joint statement in which they spoke about their 10-year scheme of fraud. The main defendants in the controversial case were former employees of the aluminum plant in Portland, Oregon.
A decade, these people forged documentation related to parts and materials supplied by the company for the needs of the space Agency NASA and missile defense. Particularly, the attackers involved in the falsification of quality tests of the products manufactured for the aerospace and military industry.
The scammers started their activities in the distant 1996 and continued until 2006. During this time, the details for which forged documents were used in dozens of projects in different areas. As it turned out, many of them do not meet quality standards and have not passed the so-called «stress test«that could lead to their failure at any time. Now NASA establishes a complete list of projects, which applied a defective parts.
71-year-old Dennis Merkel, a former production Manager, is the initiator of the criminal scheme and indicted on two counts relating to fraud in especially large amounts and causing damages to the American government. It is believed that he, along with accomplices falsified the results more than a hundred tests. The products that are either not tested or failed the tests, later used in the creation of missiles, spacecraft and military equipment.
The main motive for these crimes was material enrichment. Merkel and his associates received additional income and various bonuses for timely delivery of the aforementioned items. The investigation has not yet disclosed the amount of damages. The first hearing on this case will be held April 30 in the district court of Oregon.
