April 06, 2009
In the largest qui tam settlement ever paid by a defense contractor, Northrop Grumman has agreed to pay $325 million to resolve allegations that its predecessor TRW Inc. violated the federal False Claims Act.
The suit, originally filed by whistleblower Robert Ferro, alleged that the company provided and billed the government for defective parts that were integrated into satellites used by the National Reconnaisance Office.
The qui tam lawsuit said that a government satellite “experienced critical failures” while in orbit in 2001, but at that time the government didn’t know that TRW had long been aware that failures of its components were likely.
Mr. Ferro was represented by Eric Havian of the law firm of Phillips & Cohen LLP.