Federal prosecutors have indicted a former Boeing procurement officer and three others for allegedly rigging subcontract awards on military aircraft programmes in St. Louis.

An 11-page indictment of wire and mail fraud charges unsealed by the US District Court in St. Louis on 7 October accuses Deon Anderson of providing insider information to Jeffrey LaVelle, William Boozer and Robert Diaz, who respectively run JL Manufacturing, Globe Dynamics, and Inland Empire.

Anderson's tip-offs, including competitive bid details and historic pricing data, helped the companies win two dozen contracts to supply aircraft parts to Boeing worth $3.5 million between November, 2009 until early 2013, according to the court document.

The owners of three companies are also charged with acting to defraud Boeing, according to the federal indictment.

Anderson and one company used a code to communicate, the court documents say. Police seized two cars and thousands in cash from Anderson.

Boeing was unaware of the scheme, says the indictment. The company says it is cooperating with law enforcement and declined further comment. None of the three accused responded immediately to questions.

Source: FlightGlobal.com