GOOSE CREEK — The U.S. Department of Justice announced a former local fabricator will spend millions to resolve a complaint that it overcharged the government for welding tables used in a next generation nuclear submarine project.
W International and its CEO Edward Walker will pay $10.5 million after a fired executive lodged a 2022 whistleblower complaint under the False Claims Act.
John Klausmeier, the former executive, will also receive a $1.8 million award from the pool of money, according to his attorney Bill Nettles.
The settlement with the federal government includes $6 million in restitution. The company was accused of knowingly submitting overcharges for welding tables used in the assembly of Columbia-class nuclear submarines.
The next generation Navy vessel is meant to replace the country’s existing fleet of ballistic-equipped submarines.
Walker has previously denied wrongdoing and liability, according to a news release and news reporting.
Klausmeier had accused his former employer of taking advantage of two federal funding vehicles, the Supplier Development Funds and the Defense Production Act.
The Michigan fabrication company opened a South Carolina plant as it began producing welding tables — a kind of workbench — that cost $2,100 to manufacture but cost the government $15,000 each. The company had been paid to refurbish a large-scale welding facility in Goose Creek, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
The company had also accepted money to train and...
exporters knowingly avoided U. S. duties on Asian and European flat-rolled steel products, agreeing to pay $19 million to resolve the dispute, according to a press release issued Wednesday by the U...