DEFENSE AND AVIATION RELATED CORRUPTION
President Eisenhower warned about the military-industrial complex as he was leaving office, but to no avail. Pentagon fraud and bribery, CIA covert operations to protect the interests of powerful U.S. corporations overseas, and aviation-related crimes were some of the many scandals surfacing in the 1980s, creating a well-entrenched mindset that continues to this date. Establishment media coverup plays a key role in the American public's ignorance about corruption in government. Refusal to read the many highly detailed expose books and articles is another reason why this corruption is able to escalate.
Despite the consequences in money, safety and lives, bribing of government officials exists in the aviation field. Lockheed, Douglas, Northrop, and other aircraft manufacturers have repeatedly been charged with paying bribes to generate orders for their product, and to avoid complying with inspections and design safeguards.
Justice Department prosecutors filed a lawsuit on July 31, 1991, in New York charging General Electric with defrauding the Pentagon of more than $30 million on the sale of jet engines and support services to the Israeli Air Force. Implicated in this fraud was an Israeli Air Force general who pled guilty to fraud and bribery charges.
Lockheed admitted bribing foreign government officials as an inducement for them to buy military and commercial aircraft. In one instance, Lockheed officials resigned after Justice Department prosecutors charged Lockheed with bribing foreign officials.(505) These corporate officials admitted sanctioning bribes exceeding $22 million to European and Japanese officials. Lockheed pled guilty to secret payoffs(506) to Japanese government and business officials to promote the sale of Lockheed L-1011 aircraft.
Boeing Corporation paid bribes exceeding $3 million for promoting the sale of Boeing 747s to Middle East Airlines.(507) Northrop Corporation bribed Korean officials through a fictitious hotel project that served as a conduit for bribes.(508) American Airlines agreed to pay a civil penalty for making illegal political contributions.(509)
Bribes were paid to Japanese politicians and firms to obtain aircraft orders,(510) and government auditors could not account for $3.4 million paid by Boeing and McDonnell Douglas. Boeing agreed to plead guilty(5ll) to felony charges of illegally obtaining classified Pentagon documents from a lobbyist, Richard Fowler, who illegally obtained the documents from Pentagon insiders. Many believe Boeing got off with a slap on the wrist as many Boeing executives were directly involved with the unauthorized handling of military planning material.
Defense Department investigators reported they were looking at other major defense companies suspected of trafficking in secret government documents The Boeing investigation was pursued independent of the massive Pentagon bribery and influence-peddling probe code-named "Operation III Wind " Fowler was convicted by an Alexandria, Virginia, jury on December 7, 1989, on 39 felony counts related to unlawful acquisition and distribution...