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Vergez admitted in his plea agreement that on two
occasions he made or caused his office to make false
representations to DODIG that his office had no direct
contact with AVB concerning its subcontract on the
Northrop Grumman contract, when, as Vergez then knew, he
and his direct subordinates at NSRWA had significant
direct contacts with AVB related to its subcontract.
Vergez also admitted that on Feb. 1, 2012, he directed a
subordinate official to create and sign a document
bearing the typed date Dec. 5, 2011, representing that a
$3.67 million claim by AVB under the contract was
reasonable. As a result of this backdating, it falsely
appeared that the subordinate official had approved the
$3.67 million payment before directions were given to
Northrop to make that payment. That document was then
provided to DODIG in response to its requests for
supporting documentation surrounding this attempt to
have Northrop pay AVB.
According to the plea agreement, Vergez admitted that he
engaged in a criminal conflict of interest by taking
official acts as a government official to assist a
helicopter manufacturing company in negotiating a
“foreign military sale” and adjusting a contract so that
the company received payment faster than originally
agreed upon at a time when Vergez was negotiating future
employment with that company.
Vergez further admitted that he made false
statements in his “Confidential Financial Disclosure
Report,” a government ethics form, for the year
2012, by not disclosing that his wife had received a
Rolex wristwatch from the wife of a representative
of AVB; that he had accepted an offer of employment
with a private company; and that he had received a
$30,000 check from that company.
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