August 21, 2006
A federal judge has thrown out a jury verdict against Iraq defense contractor Custer Battles, saying that the False Claims Act did not apply.
In March 2006 a jury had found that the company and two of its principals had defrauded the federal government on Iraq contracts.
But Judge T.S. Ellis ruled that Custer Battles’ contracts with the Coalition Provisional Authority did not implicate the False Claims Act because the CPA, although controlled and funded by the U.S., was not part of the U.S. government.
The Corporate Crime Reporter ran a story on the judge’s ruling on August 18, 2006. The International Herald Tribune reprinted the New York Times report of August 18, 2006.