Government Accuses Aerojet of Abusing Public Funds

The Justice Department filed suit Tuesday against Azusa-based Aerojet, charging that it billed taxpayers for employees’ European ski holidays, African safaris and trekking expeditions in Katmandu under a secret Air Force contract.

The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles under the False Claims Act, charges that Aerojet employees stationed at a remote base in Australia took extravagant vacations under the guise of periodic home-leave visits that were permitted under the contract.

Aerojet, a unit of Sacramento-based Gencorp that makes satellite sensors, contends that its practices were entirely proper within its contract, which permitted employees periodic trips to any place as long as the cost was equivalent to a home visit.

“We are going to win this,” Aerojet spokeswoman Edie Cartwright said.

The Justice Department suit charges that Aerojet billed the Air Force in one case for a two-month world tour by an employee and his wife--including stops in California, New York, Amsterdam, Cairo, Bangkok, Singapore and India--at a cost of $8,242.63.

“We are appalled by this kind of abuse of public funds,” said Jennifer Bremmer, the assistant U.S. attorney who is handling the case.

Although the suit does not mention the Aerojet contract, it involves the Defense Support Program spy satellite program, according to Defense Department sources.

The employees were stationed at Woomera, in the remote Outback of South Australia, according to the suit.

The suit doesn’t ask for specific damages, but a Pentagon audit covering 1987 to 1991 concluded that about $500,000 of improper billing occurred, according to the Pentagon source.