Summary: As part of a February 1990 plea bargain agreement, the Northrop Corporation pled guilty to procurement fraud charges in exchange for dropping other criminal investigations pending against the company in California. Part of the plea agreement was sealed from the public, and both the Central District of California and Northrop agreed not to issue a press release or make any public statements on the U.S. Attorney's decision to decline prosecution in the pending investigations. This fact sheet contains information on procurement fraud cases resulting in a criminal conviction or civil settlement that the Justice Department brought against the 100 companies receiving the largest Defense Department contracts in 1991. For each case, GAO provides the (1) name of the contractor, (2) judicial district, (3) case type, (4) case disposition, (5) disposition date, and (6) amount of any monetary award to the government. GAO also obtained information on the Justice Department's policy on sealing the plea agreements and settlements of defense procurement fraud cases from the public.
