Boeing to pay $2 million over whistleblower claims

The Boeing Co. has agreed to pay $2 million to the Justice Department to settle a whistle-blower's previously sealed claims that the company overbilled the government for work done at a plant in San Antonio, a newspaper reported Tuesday.

The government joined in a 2006 lawsuit filed by former Boeing employee Edward Quintana, who claimed Boeing manipulated records to show others besides him had been maintaining Air Force KC-135 tankers when they had not, the San Antonio Express-News reported. The lawsuit was kept secret while the Justice Department investigated Quintana's claims.

Boeing spokeswoman Deborah Vannierop told the newspaper the company denies it made false claims but cooperated with the review and has corrected "internal charging" issues.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Harold Brown Jr. helped negotiate the settlement.

Quintana's lawyers say he is entitled to as much as 25 percent of the $2 million payout.

Vannierop declined comment on Quintana's lawsuit that Boeing retaliated and fired him because he reported the alleged violations. She said the company encourages employees to report wrongdoing.

Quintana said Boeing made false claims, from 2002 to 2005, at what was formerly known as the Boeing Logistics Support System at then-KellyUSA in San Antonio. The former Air Force base is now called Port San Antonio. The maintenance unit is now known as Boeing's Global Services and Support San Antonio Facility.

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Information from: San Antonio Express-News, http://www.mysanantonio.com