January 11, 2017
January 11, 2017 – Government contractor L-3 Technologies Inc. will pay a $1.6 million penalty to settle charges that it failed to maintain accurate books and records and had inadequate internal accounting controls. According to the SEC’s order, around August 2013, executives in L-3’s Army Sustainment Division developed a “Revenue Recovery Initiative” that identified approximately $50 million in work performed under a contract with the U.S. Army that had not been billed. Because L-3 and the Army had not reached agreement on payment, any revenue recognition for that work was improper. Nonetheless, in December 2013, a senior finance official requested that 69 invoices be generated, but not delivered, causing the division to recognize almost $18 million in revenue. Because of that revenue, division employees just satisfied an internal target for management incentive bonuses. In June 2014, L-3 hired outside consultants to conduct an internal investigation. In addition to the improper revenue recognized in association with the 69 invoices, the consultants identified additional accounting errors in the division’s books from 2011 through 2014. All together, these errors had the effect of overstating the company’s pre-tax income by $169 million. SEC
Tagged in: Accounting Fraud, Defense Contract Fraud,