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