The Air Defence Gun Overruns

A defence contractor won a contract to build a prototype air-defence gun for the army. Costs ran far past the agreed price. Prosecutors say the company and four of its executives hid the overruns by charging them to separate research and bid-preparation accounts that the government also pays for, and so made false cost statements to the defence department. They are charged with conspiracy and false statements. The company says the contract was never a strict fixed-price deal, so charging those costs elsewhere was allowed.