RTX’s bombs regularly kill children and civilians. It does white-collar crimes too, according to a $950 million fraud and bribery settlement this week.

RTX CORPORATION, the weapons giant formerly (and better) known as Raytheon, agreed on Wednesday to pay almost $1 billion to resolve allegations that it defrauded the U.S. government and paid bribes to secure business with Qatar.

“Raytheon engaged in criminal schemes to defraud the U.S. government,” said Deputy Assistant Attorney General Kevin Driscoll of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division on Wednesday. “Such corrupt and fraudulent conduct, especially by a publicly traded U.S. defense contractor, erodes public trust and harms the DOD, businesses that play by the rules, and American taxpayers.”

RTX, as part of this agreement that spanned multiple investigations into its business, admitted to engaging in two separate schemes to defraud the Defense Department, which included deals for a radar system and Patriot missile systems. It also agreed to enter a separate deferred prosecution agreement, which requires increased government oversight and transparency for the next three years, in connection with the Qatari kickbacks.

  • dogslayeggs@lemmy.world
    31·
    1 month ago

    Cost of business punishments do not work.

    A) The people who executed these deals broke the law and should be subject to criminal prosecution.

    B) Raytheon should be subject to sanctions beyond fines. They should not be allowed to bid on any federal contracts for a specified time period.

  • pdxfed@lemmy.world
    14·
    1 month ago

    Reminds me of when Ex-Halliburtom CEO Dick Cheney was appointed as Vice President of the United States, the United States went to war, Halliburton was awarded no bid contracts totaling tens of billions of dollars…and then systematically overcharged and defrauded the government about the services they provided over the contract they were awarded.

    https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2010/jun/09/arianna-huffington/halliburton-kbr-and-iraq-war-contracting-history-s/

    edit: it’s also interesting to see Liz Cheney quoted in this article arguing against a “left narrative” of grift and fraud when it clearly thrived under her father yet now she’s against the pinnacle of it in Trump.