Uncle Sam Fines|Sikorsky $3.5 Million

(CN) - Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation on Monday agreed to pay the federal government $3.5 million to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act for failure to disclose the price of spare parts for its Black Hawk helicopter.

The Stratford, Conn.-based company makes Black Hawk helicopters and spare parts for the U.S. military, and failed to disclose "accurate, complete, and current cost and pricing data to the Army Aviation and Missile Life Cycle Management Command."

U.S. Attorney Deirdre M. Daly said Sikorsky charged the government "artificially excessive prices for those parts."

The Black Hawk repair work was principally performed at the Corpus Christi Army Depot in Corpus Christi, Texas.

"In this era of shrinking defense budgets, it is particularly important to guard the public coffers and safeguard against the unnecessary expenditures of funds from American taxpayers," Daly said in a statement. "Failure to disclose accurate, complete and current cost and pricing data created an uneven playing field in the negotiation."

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