U.S. Won’t Prosecute Pratt & Whitney
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department said Wednesday that it is ending a criminal investigation of Pratt & Whitney Aircraft and won’t prosecute the defense contractor for trying to get the Pentagon to pick up the tab for parties and luxury cars.
The decision prompted criticism from a congressional panel, which plans hearings on the department’s handling of the inquiry.
“The case has been closed; we declined prosecution,” said John Russell of the Justice Department.
U.S. Atty. Leon B. Kellner of Miami has said prosecution would have been difficult because government regulations were so vague prosecutors could not determine what expenses were reimbursable.
The investigation grew out of expense vouchers filed in 1981 and 1982 by employees of Pratt & Whitney’s Government Products Division in West Palm Beach, Fla.
The House Energy and Commerce Committee will hold hearings and might recommend legislation to make it easier to prosecute government contractors, said aides to Rep. John D. Dingell (D-Mich.), the panel’s chairman.
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