FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CIV WEDNESDAY, APRIL 10, 1996 (202) 616-2765 TDD (202) 514-1888 UNITED STATES SETTLES FRAUD CLAIMS AGAINST PETROLEUM ADDITIVES COMPANY FOR $4,750,000 WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A Richmond, Virginia, manufacturer of lubricant and other petroleum additives will pay the United States $4,750,000 to settle allegations that additives it sold to other companies for use in defense vehicles failed to meet military specifications, the Department of Justice announced today. Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division Frank Hunger said the agreement with Ethyl Petroleum Additives Inc. and its parent, Ethyl Corporation, (EPAI) settles a qui tam lawsuit, United States ex rel. Duchek v. Ethyl Corporation and Ethyl Petroleum Additives, Inc., filed March 20, 1994, in U.S. District Court in St. Louis, Missouri, by a former EPAI employee, Charles Duchek. "This settlement should send a strong message that the government is serious about its testing requirements," said Hunger. "The government will continue to enforce the False Claims Act vigorously to ensure compliance." The Department said that from 1986 through 1991 the government purchased petroleum additive packages for engine oils that EPAI falsely certified met military specifications and passed specified testing. The government's investigation disclosed that EPAI submitted false documents and information to the Lubricants Research Institute so its products would be included on the Qualified Products List the institute maintained for the federal government. After Duchek complained to company management of the problem, EPAI conducted an internal investigation and notified the government in March 1991. Under the qui tam provisions, a private party can file a suit on behalf of the government and receive a portion of the settlement ranging up to 25 percent if the government takes over the case and prosecutes it successfully. ##### 96-161