WASHINGTON "“ A Pennsylvania defense contractor who got millions of dollars in congressional earmarks from Rep. John Murtha has been blocked from doing business with the Navy amid allegations of fraud.
Word of the suspension came during an annual trade show featuring defense contractors gathered in Johnstown, Pa., the heart of Murtha's congressional district. Seven of the world's largest defense contractors, who have been among the veteran Pennsylvania Democrat's biggest campaign contributors over the years, helped bankroll the "Showcase for Commerce."
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At the Pentagon, Navy spokesman Lt. Clay Doss said the Navy suspended Kuchera Defense Systems on April 23 for "alleged fraud, including multiple incidents of incorrect charges, defective pricing and ethical violations." Doss declined to elaborate.
Kuchera is one of two firms with longtime ties to Murtha that were raided by the FBI in recent months in a Justice Department criminal investigation of campaign fundraising involving defense contractors.
In the last two years alone, Murtha has directed $78 million in earmarks to clients of a Washington-area lobbying firm, PMA, the second business that the FBI recently raided. A former staffer on Murtha's subcommittee, Paul Magliocchetti, left Capitol Hill to start the lobbying firm in 1989, the same year Murtha became chairman of the subcommittee.
Defense Contractor With Murtha Ties Suspended
