Florida Man Charged with Defrauding Air Force Contractor
Las Vegas, Nev. – A Florida man who owned and managed a company that supplied aircraft parts to EG&G, a prime contractor of the U.S. Air Force, has been indicted by the Federal Grand Jury on conspiracy to defraud the government and theft charges, announced Greg Brower, United States Attorney for the District of Nevada.
Douglas Edward Phillips, III, 52, of Weston, Florida, is charged with one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States Government and two counts of Theft of Government Funds.
According to the Indictment, Phillips owned and managed Danco Aerospace Consulting, Inc. (Danco), an aircraft parts company that operated out of Florida. From about September 1995 to August 2004, Phillips and Richard Thomas Barkley, a logistician for EG&G in Las Vegas, allegedly conspired to defraud and steal funds from the U.S. Air Force. Phillips and Barkley conspired to prepare false paperwork indicating that parts and services were being ordered from Danco, when in fact they were not. Phillips and Barkley then conspired to submit the paperwork to EG&G for payment, and EG&G paid Danco and the Air Force reimbursed EG&G. After receiving payment from EG&G, Phillips divided the proceeds with Barkley. EG&G paid Danco approximately $847,350.56 for parts and services that were never provided. Phillips allegedly gave Barkley approximately $223,430 of the stolen funds.
Phillips was summoned, and will be scheduled for an initial appearance and arraignment in the near future. If convicted, he faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine on the conspiracy to defraud charge and up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine on the theft charge.
Barkley pleaded guilty in 2007 to conspiracy, theft of government funds, and money laundering, and was sentenced on November 20, 2007, to 37 months in prison.
The case is being investigated by the U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jeffrey T. Tao.
The public is reminded that a Indictment contains only charges and is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
