United Technologies to repay $473m to US

United Technologies Corp has been instructed to pay a total of $473 million plus interest as reimbursement for false charges to gain US Air Force jet engine contracts in the 1980s.

US Air Force contracts under spotlight

The 1999 lawsuit, in which the Department of Justice sought compensation from United Technologies subsidiary Pratt & Whitney, came to an end when US District Judge Thomas Rose issued the ruling on earlier this week, Reuters reports.In 2008, Judge Rose found the corporation accountable under the False Claims Act, awarding $7.09 million in civil penalties to the US. The same ruling was upheld in 2010 leading to the final decision on Monday.  

Fraud

Judge Rose claimed that the US ‘should not have paid the amounts that the government proved it paid as a direct result of United Technologies' fraud’.
Connecticut-headquartered conglomerate United Technologies, with a net income of $5.13 billion last year, expects to pay a sum of $660 million including interest according to the report. However, the company plans to appeal.

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