The War on Fraud
One of the most contentious issues in American politics is military spending.
Around twenty years ago, General Electric was the first and possibly the biggest corporation to face fines and lawsuits stemming from a crackdown on fraud related to contracts with the Pentagon. Maybe it’s time for another crackdown. It could provide a needed boost of revenue for the military.
A little over ten years ago, GE was caught cheating the Military by not adequately testing aircraft components. A GE engineer approached the FBI after the concerns that he expressed within the company failed to result in changes that he felt were necessary. The approximately $7 million awarded in a subsequent lawsuit mostly went to the government, with some going to the whistle-blower and his lawyers as well.
If this is a pattern, it would seem that a payment is overdue. There were also some criminal convictions against GE in 1990 and 1992.
This year, they sold their plastics division to the Saudis.
