wiredinUSA November 2013

Military put at risk by faulty fasteners

A man has admitted in federal court that he sold defective self-locking nuts to the US department of defense for use in military aircraft. The nine-count indictment said that Martin Dale Geyer had supplied counterfeit nuts, bolts and screws to the military in 2009 through his company, Wellworth Fastener Products. Invoices submitted for payment stated that the parts met government specifications, but they did not, the indictment stated. Investigators also found steroids, nine guns and 3,000 rounds of ammunition when they searched Geyer’s home in 2010, reported Michael E Hampp, a special agent with the defense department’s defense criminal investigative service.

Hampp said the defective parts were considered to be “critical application items” and that failure of the parts could lead to injury or death. The parts were also used in nuclear power plants. Geyer could be sentenced to 20 years in prison and ordered to pay a $250,000 fine for mail fraud, a year in prison and a fine of $100,000 for steroid possession, and 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 for the firearms crime. According to FedSpending.org, a website that tracks federal contracts, Wellworth received $157,285 for federal contracts during 2009.

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wiredInUSA - November 2013

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