SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 26 (UPI) — A federal judge in San Francisco called a fraud case against Canadian military supplier Newcon International weak and has acquitted the company.
U.S. District Judge Marilyn Hall Patel scolded the U.S. Justice Department for pursuing the case with “several years of criminal proceedings notwithstanding the paucity of evidence.” She also said prosecutors, who filed charges in December 2007, had switched tactics during the nine-day trial, depriving Newcon of the right to defend itself against the charges for which it was accused, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Saturday.
Newcon was accused of lying to the Defense Department about an offer made to American Technologies Network to pay it to relinquish a contract for supplying night goggles to the Army.
The company was accused of using the scheme to increase prices.
Newcon had been the Army’s supplier for night goggles, but lost the contract to ATN in 2004.
But the judge said there was no evidence to show Newcon lied and the price could not have gone up as the principal contractor, a Jordanian company called ITE, had already signed a fixed-price contract for the goggles.
Newcon attorney Jonathan Howden said the case had “a devastating effect” on the company. Not only did it lose the $22 million contract, but after the charges were filed, it was suspended from doing business with the U.S. government.
Similar Posts:
- Northwest to pay $38M for price fixing
- 28 states see unemployment rates rise
- Two bankers plead guilty in bribery case
- 5 Ways to Increase Your Credit Card Limit
- Labor rally on Tuesday to support Momentive workers
